Her Story
by crazytomboy78
Summary: What happens when a six year old girl loses her place in the world? She's lost her parents in a fatal breaking and entering; the worst part of it all: she didn't truly understand her situation. That is, until she moves to NYC...rated T for swearing.
1. Prolouge

The little girl walked out of her room, rubbing her eyes with one hand and held her teddy bear in the other. She walked down the stairs to see what all the noise was. When she got there, she saw that there was a man she didn't recognize standing by the TV, pointing a gun at her mother and her father was laying on the ground with blood seeping from his shirt. Her mother had tears in her eyes when she turned to see her little girl standing in the stairway.

"Is this your baby girl? Huh? Want me to shoot her instead?" the strange man asked. The mother shook her head, the tears falling down faster now.

"Do anything, anything you want to me just don't hurt my baby girl!" The mother cried.

"Whatever you say!" The little girl didn't understand what he was doing. He pulled the trigger and the bullet shot her in the chest and instantly killed her. The little girl was struck with tears. She stood still with fear.

"Mommy!" She screamed.

"Mommy's gone, you little brat!" the strange man said. The little girl heard sirens outside. A policeman kicked the door open and pointed a gun at the strange man.

"Freeze! Nobody move!" The policeman said. The little girl started crying loudly.

"You're coming with us, scumbag!" another policeman took out handcuffs and tazed the strange man. He fell to the ground and dropped his gun. The policeman handcuffed him and took him outside to the cop car.

The policeman with the gun set his gun down and put it back in its case and walked over to the little girl.

"Sweetie, do you know what happened?" He asked kindly. The little girl sniffed and shook her head.

"Okay." He said. He walked around the house. He saw two dead bodies and checked to make sure they were dead. They were. He walked back over to the little girl.

"Honey, can you come with me?" He asked. The little girl stuck her thumb in her mouth and nodded.

"Well we're going to need to pack your belongings, sweetie." The policeman picked up the little girl and walked up the stairs.

"Where's your room?" He asked. She pointed down the hall to their left. He walked down the hall and turned into her room.

"Alright, can you tell me where all your clothes are?" He asked. She pointed to her dresser. He walked over and opened the drawers.

"Where's your suitcases?" He asked. She pointed to the closet across from her room. He got a suitcase and packed all her things.

"Mr. Policeman Sir?" She asked. He looked up at her.

"What happened to mommy and daddy?" She asked. He bit his lip. How could he explain to a six year old girl that her parents were murdered?

"Your mommy and daddy have been…killed. By the big mean man." He explained.

"Mommy and daddy are dead?" She asked. He nodded. She started to cry some more. He put down the shirt and went over to her and picked her up. He was very good with kids.

"It's okay; it's all going to be okay. Calm down." He layed her on her bed and continued packing. A message came in on his walkie-talkie.

"Rich, you coming out?" another policeman asked.

"Yeah. I just have to take care of the little girl." He explained. He finished packing and picked up the little girl and her suitcase. She'd fallen asleep. He took her to the cop car without the murderer in it, and put her in the back seat.

"Cripe sakes, Rich! What are you doing with her?" the other police man asked.

"The mom and dad were shot. Murdered. We have to take care of her situation." He explained.

"Christ. That's fucking great." The policeman said sarcastically.

They drove back to the station and set the little girl in a room with no windows, no nothing but a table a door and a light. He sat the little girl in the chair.

"Can you tell me your name, sweetie?" He asked.

"Chloe." She answered with her thumb in her mouth.

"Okay, Chloe. I'm Officer Rich and this is my buddy Officer Bill. We're going to ask you a few questions, is that okay?" He asked. She nodded.

"Okay. Can you tell me what you did after 7pm today?" He asked.

"At 7pm I watched TV with my mommy and at 8:30 I got ready for bed and my mommy tucked me in. But then I heard loud noises downstairs and I went down to see what it was and daddy was on the floor and the bad man shot mommy." She said.

"So you witnessed your mommy get killed?" He asked. She nodded and stuck her thumb back in her mouth. He nodded.

"We're going to have to dig up some information about her parents' families," He said to the other policeman, "What's your mommy's full name?" he asked.

"Sarah Elizabeth Carter." Chloe said. Officer Rich nodded again.

"Okay. What's your daddy's full name?" He asked.

"Danny Micheal Carter." Chloe said.

"Okay. Thank you."

"Mr.? I'm tired." She tugged on his shirt sleeve as he walked past her. He sighed.

"Alright. I'll get you a place to sleep, okay?" He said. She nodded and followed him into his office. He got a blanket from storage and led her to a bench built into the wall and let her lay down there. Chloe layed down and Officer Rich put the blanket over her.

"Do you want the lights on or off?" He asked.

"On." She answered, drifting off to sleep.

He nodded and walked out, closing the door.

"Rich, there's a woman here who says she's here to see Chloe Carter. She says she's the child's godmother." Officer Bill said as he approached Officer Rich.

"Alright. I'm coming to see her." He said. He came to a woman with brown hair tied up into a messy bun, wearing PJ's and a coat, nervously clutching her car keys.

"You're here for Chloe Carter?" Rich asked. She nodded.

"Yes, my name is Carmen Simmons. I'm Chloe's godmother, I just heard what happened to Sarah and Danny. Sarah was my best friend…" She started to cry.

"It's okay, ma'am. I'll take you to see Chloe." Officer Rich took her to his office where Chloe was sleeping.

"Oh, Chloe…poor girl…" Carmen went over to her and gently shook her awake.

"Chloe? It's Aunt Carmen." She said.

"Auntie Carmen?" Chloe whispered.

"Yes, honey. It's me." Carmen said.

"Am I going to live with you now?" Chloe asked.

"We'll see, honey." Carmen said.

"We're going to have to look at your records. And we're going to have to take a DNA test to prove you're who you say you are." Officer Rich explained to Carmen.

"Mr. Policeman? Am I going to live with Auntie Carmen now?" Chloe asked. Rich bent down.

"Is that what you want?" He asked. She nodded.

"Auntie Carmen loves me and mommy and daddy. I want Auntie Carmen to protect me." Chloe said.

"Okay, sweetie. We'll find out if we can arrange that."

She nodded and went back to sleep.

**For now, fellow readers, that is all. Ik, ik…what the heck does this have to do with IMAA at all? Well, you'll see. Sometime in future chapters.**


	2. Chloe's Beginning

**Psshh, hey! Happy belated one year anniversary to meee XD it was two days ago. I was gonna do something for it but I decided not to…sorry. So you know how that stupid dragon ball z show started after IMAA and ended after it yet their season two comes way freaking' QUICKER than IMAA? It's totally unfairness! I want IMAA season twooooooo DX Anyways, maybe in this chapter you'll see how the story relates to IMAA.**

"Ms. Simmons?" The policeman beckoned. Carmen stood from her seat and slung her purse over her shoulder.

"Yes?" She asked nervously.

"The DNA test is ready. We're going to make sure you are who you say you are, you're going to fill out some paperwork and you'll be free to take Chloe home. She seems to be familiar enough with you, and the will for Mr. and Mrs. Carter stated that if anything were to happen to them guidance of Chloe would go to you." He explained. Carmen nodded.

"Step right this way." The policeman gentlemanly waved his hand to a door to his right. Carmen walked to the door and opened it. She hesitated a moment then walked in.

"Take a seat right here if you will, Ms. Simmons." A lady in a white lab coat, black dress pants and a pink blouse pointed to a chair. Carmen nervously sat in the chair and placed her purse by her feet.

"We're going to rub this Q tip on the inside of your cheek, and have you spit onto this tray. The saliva results will be ready within the hour. The cheek residue results won't be until next week." She explained. Carmen nodded and took the Q tip. She stuck it in her mouth and rubbed her cheek. She set the Q tip on the tray and spit onto it. The lady in the lab coat smiled and took the tray.

"Ok, we're all set. Thank you." Carmen stood and walked out. The police officer was standing outside the door.

"You're allowed in to see Chloe for a little while we wait for the test results." He said. Carmen nodded and walked to the office where Chloe had been sleeping. When Carmen walked in she saw Chloe sitting on the floor near the wall, scribbling something on the walls with a crayon. Carmen curiously walked over to see what Chloe was drawing.

On the wall was a stick figure that appeared to be laying down, with long hair drawn from its head, indicating it was drawn female. Next to the laying stick figure was another one, which was standing over the one laying down, which had something L-shaped in its hand. There was no long hair, so Carmen assumed it was male. There was another bald stick figure laying near the one with the long hair, the female one, and they were both laying in a puddle-sort thing.

"Chloe, what's this all about?" Carmen asked.

"I'm drawing." Chloe asked without looking up from the wall.

"Can you explain it to me, please?" Carmen asked. Chloe pointed to the lady laying down.

"This is mommy," she now pointed to the man standing over her, "this is the man that killed mommy and daddy," she pointed to the male laying down, "and this is daddy." She explained. Carmen put her hands on her knees and bent down a little.

"What are mommy and daddy laying in?" Carmen asked.

"Blood. Because the mean man killed them." Chloe explained. Carmen got worried.

"Well you shouldn't be drawing on the nice man's office walls. He wouldn't like it." Carmen explained. Chloe bent her head back.

"What would the nice man do? Kill me?" Chloe asked with a bored expression on her face; as if she didn't care. Carmen was more worried now.

"No, he's the nice man. He doesn't want to hurt you, he wants to help you." Carmen explained.

"But I don't want his help." Chloe said.

"But Chloe, without his help I can't take you home and have you live with me." Carmen said. Chloe pulled her attention back to her drawing.

"Fine. Get the nice man's help. Why would I care anyways?" Chloe continued drawing. Carmen walked out of the room with a nervous expression across her face.

"What's wrong?" The policeman asked.

"She's drawing on the walls. A picture of the murderer killing her parents." Carmen explained.

"Let me see." When he walked into his office, sure enough she was there; drawing. He gently closed the door so he would not distract her and walked away.

"She's suffering her loss. She's going to be like this a few days; I've seen this case before." He explained. Carmen nodded.

"The DNA test came back positive. You are who you say you are. We have the paperwork ready for you."

**~12 years later~**

_(Chloe's POV…)_

"Chloe?" Carmen called up the stairs.

"Yeah, Carmen?" I answered in my usual monotone-negative voice.

"Time to go, honey." I grabbed my last suitcase and brought it downstairs to the car. I packed it into the trunk.

"Why do we have to move to NYC anyways?" I asked.

"For your own safety. The man who killed your parents broke out of jail and we need to get you out of here or else he'll be back to kill you for telling on him." Carmen told me.

"What makes you think I care? If I die I can see my parents again. Why would I care if I die?" I said. Carmen put her hand on my shoulder.

"Chloe, honey, that was twelve years ago. I understand it's hard for you to go through, but you can't just throw your life away." Carmen said.

"How would you know it's hard?" I asked.

"Honey, your mom has been my best friend since kindergarten. I miss her just as much as you do." Carmen told me. I nodded.

"Sure." I muttered, and then climbed into the car.

The car ride was silent. I didn't speak, and Carmen concentrated on driving like we should. I listened to my iPod and watched movies until we reached the city. Once we entered the city, I felt a feeling of happiness wash over me. Maybe this new home could be my new start, too. Maybe Carmen was right…

Or maybe the earth is just a cycle of loss and I was sucked into it. I looked back down at my iPod. I could hear Carmen sigh with disappointment when she saw me uninterested out of the corner of her eyes. We reached the apartment building and parked in the parking garage. We unloaded our stuff, or at least what we could carry, and brought it up to our nineteenth-floor apartment. It had a beautiful view of the whole city. I put my suitcases in what I chose to be my room and took out the pamphlet for my new school, called the Tomorrow Academy. I didn't know what this place was, but I knew they bragged about having Tony Stark, billionaire genius enrolled there.

I'd heard of Tony Stark. He may portray himself as someone who doesn't have that typical 'rich-snotty-boy' attitude but instead focused on his work. He's sixteen for god's sake, why the freak is he working? Or, at least, that's what I think of him. Opinions don't matter in the real world.

~…~

The next day, it was my first day of school. I woke up and quickly ate breakfast. I went to the bathroom and started the water for the shower. I took all my clothes off and stepped in. I kept the water cold, so it could refresh me as I woke up. I let the cold water run down my breasts and my tummy, and remembered the way my mother would rub my tummy when she gave me baths. It always tickled. I rubbed my hands over my tummy the way she used to but it didn't feel the same. I missed her touch. I felt water drip down from my eyelids, and was glad that I was already wet because I could tell I was crying.

I got out of the shower and dressed. I picked up my hairbrush and ran it through my long blonde hair and remembered the way my mother used to run her brush through my hair and tied it up into pigtails. I ran the brush through my hair and held it into pigtails on the top of my head and pictured my mother behind me as I giggled and smiled. More tears flowed. I let my hair sit on my shoulders and I brushed my teeth. Again I remembered how we used to brush our teeth together, mom dad and I. We used to laugh and brush, and spit and laugh together. Then dad would go off to work and I'd stay with mom until it was time for preschool. I set my toothbrush down by the sink and walked to the living room where my lunch and backpack were sitting. I grabbed my stuff and my coat and headed out. Carmen was already at work; she worked early in the morning as a journalist.

As I walked to school, I saw a chipper red-headed girl laughing and walking with an African-american boy and laughing. They were both laughing, but walking slow. So I sped up and walked next to them to avoid walking slow. Next to them was a brown haired boy, laughing as well.

"Ginger…" I said as I passed her. She snorted at me under her breath, "My name is _Pepper, _not _Ginger._" She defended.

"Whatever…" and I walked away.

_**(Narrator's POV…)**_

"What's her problem?" Tony asked.

"I don't know. She seemed kind of sad." Rhodey said.

"Well she didn't leave a very good impression on me…" Pepper complained.

"Relax, Pepper. Plenty of redheads are called ginger." Rhodey said.

"Well whatever her problem is it's probably being over-obsessed about." Tony said.

**(A/N: sorry, this chapter kinda changes viewpoints a lot…we're taking the narrator's [that's me] view on Chloe.) **Chloe walked inside the school building and found her way to the attendance office.

"I'm here for school…I was told to come here first?" Chloe explained.

"Yes, dear, we're all here to learn. Are you a new student?" the lady behind the desk asked.

"Yes." Chloe answered.

"Well, I have your locker number right here. You should already have your schedule?" She asked.

"No I don't."

"Well, then I have a copy right here." She handed Chloe a piece of paper.

**Random spot to end, but hey, who cares. Lengthy chapter? No? Oh well. Idc. hopefully now you see how IMAA starts to come into play…or not. Idk. That's your viewpoint not mine…review!**


	3. Change of Pace

**Hey guys! OMFG I JUST FOUND OUT THE COOLEST MOST BESTEST NEWS EVER! THERE'S GOING TO BE AN IM3 MOVIE COMING OUT IN 2O13! IM3 FTW! I'm so PUMPED! Anyways, sorry for the long wait, I've been busy with the marching band season ending. Plus my 15****th**** bday is this Saturday! I'm so excited…only one more year to goo! Wohhh.**

Chloe sat in her seat once she found her homeroom class. With her regular angered and bored expression, she sat in the back of the classroom and ignored everyone around her. She didn't want to speak. She didn't want to be at some stupid New York City school where she didn't need to be; she thought herself deserving to be dead. She'd had no right to let her mother's life be taken over her own. She should have died that day, not her mother, she told herself.

"Chloe Carter?" The teacher called attendance. Chloe raised her hand.

"Yes, welcome to the Tomorrow Academy Chloe." The teacher moved on to the next person in the attendance. Chloe felt a tap on her shoulder from behind her, as someone was sitting behind her, and turned to see who it was. It was the ginger she'd bumped into earlier. Chloe faced her but did not say anything.

"Hey, you're that girl I saw in the hall earlier who called me a ginger!" the redhead said offendedly. Chloe nodded.

"Well, that's not my name, believe it or not. My name is Pepper Potts. I don't believe we've met?" Pepper introduced.

"Chloe Carter." Chloe said in her monotone voice.

"Pretty name!" Pepper said. Chloe did not respond. Pepper shrugged and then the bell rang.

"So you're new here, aren't you? Let me show you around!" Pepper followed Chloe out of the classroom. Chloe stopped and turned to face Pepper.

"Look, _Pepper._ I don't want, nor need, your assistance to find my way around the school. Now please just leave me alone." Chloe walked away.

"Well sheesh, alrighty then." Pepper muttered to herself as Tony and Rhodey approached her.

"What?" Tony asked.

"That girl who bumped into me in the hall, her name is Chloe Carter. She's in my homeroom. She's got an attitude! I wonder what happened to her…I'll have to look up her file tonight." Pepper said.

"Well whatever. It doesn't matter now; we've got to get to class." Tony waved a goodbye to Rhodey and they parted ways to their separate classes; Rhodey to his own and Tony and Pepper to their shared AP Chemistry class.

"I still want to know more about that new girl. It was like something happened to her that she can't let go of." Pepper said.

"It was probably just something that she's holding a grudge over or something. I'm sure if you make the effort to befriend her she'll tell you." Tony said.

"Me? Befriend her? She was rude to me right at the start!" Pepper said.

"Yeah, but she's new at the school and doesn't know anyone yet. You should be nice to her." Tony said.

"If you're so eager for me to befriend her, why don't you just befriend her?" Pepper said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not eager, I'm just making a point that you should be nice to her and have a good attitude about it." Tony said.

"Whatever. You tell yourself that, eager mcbeaver." Pepper teased.

"I'm not-oh, fine. Whatever, I'll say hello. But you need to go with me and be nice with me." Tony said. Pepper rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat.

"Fine." She muttered under her breath. Tony and Pepper approached Chloe, who seemed to be in the same chemistry class as them.

"Hi, my name is Tony and this is my friend Pepper." Tony said to her. Chloe looked up with an angered and bored expression on her face. It confused Tony as to which she was feeling.

"Why should I care?" Chloe said.

"Well, because you don't really know anyone at school and I thought I'd be nice and introduce myself." Tony explained.

"Well that's not true, now is it?" Chloe said.

"What? But…you're new and you moved from another town…?" Tony was confused.

"See, now I know four people. The secretary at the front desk, my homeroom teacher, and you two. Obviously I know some people, now don't i?" Chloe wisecracked. Tony was dumbstruck. She was witty.

"W-well obviously _now _you know some people at school, but you haven't made any effort to make friends yet. So I was being nice." Tony said.

"I don't care. Just leave me alone." Chloe said.

"Look, we were just trying to be nice. What's your problem?" Pepper spoke up. Chloe stood from her seat and faced Pepper.

"My _problem_?" Chloe spat."My _problem _is that I saw my parents get murdered right in front of me when I was little and ever since I've had to live with my mom's best friend who my mom trusted with custody of me if anything ever happened to them. _Worst_ of all, you wanna know my _problem_? My mom was _pregnant _with my little brother. She was shot in the stomach and my little brother _died. _So why don't you just go away before you make anything else worse, you _**stupid ginger**_!" Chloe stormed out of the classroom with tears in her eyes. Everyone was staring at them. Pepper was in shock. She had no idea that that had happened to her. What had hit her the hardest was being called a 'stupid ginger'. Pepper was offended and felt deeply guilty.

"Pepper…" Tony sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. Pepper sat in her seat and ignored people's stares.

"I…I'll go find Chloe." Tony walked out. The teacher thought that to be a good idea since first of all, Tony knew everything he was going to be taught today anyways, and b, he was sort of the one to blame anyways. Tony looked through all the hallways he could think of that she would run through. It was only her first day, so she couldn't possibly know her way around. She must have gotten herself lost somewhere or even could've been caught skipping class and sent to detention. Tony walked past the stairs leading to the roof and heard the faint sound of someone crying. He backed up and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He listened closely. It sounded female. Tony walked up the steps and saw through the small window on the door that it was Chloe, leaning against the door in sobs. Tony knocked on the door to warn her that he was coming in. She looked through the window and saw Tony. Tony gently pushed the door open and walked her over to a place to sit. He sat next to her.

"Listen, I know what it's like to lose your only family. My mom died when I was young, too and my dad….was taken away from me just months ago. And they were the only family I had. Chloe looked up at him.

"You have no IDEA what I've gone through! I _witnessed_ it, I was little and I didn't know what was going on until it was too late! I only moved here because the murderer escaped from jail and word is that he's out to get me! YOU don't even know!" Chloe said loudly.

"I have a good idea! You're alone, I'm alone. I don't have family either, and I know what it's like when someone close to you dies! I worry that my life could end easily like that, that the things I do and the life I live could put me in danger! Chloe, believe me. I _understand._" Tony said.

"Look, i…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just…it's hard to go through, you know? I had to go through mother's day, father's day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, any holiday you can imagine without my parents. I had to teach myself everything they would normally be teaching me…I felt so alone all the time, and no one ever wanted to talk to me." Chloe said calmly.

"I know, it's hard to deal with something like that at a young age. But you can't be so pessimistic all the time. You have to see the upside to life sometimes, because when you do it feels really great. Like a burden lifted off your shoulders." Tony said. Chloe smiled.

"You know what? You're right. I can't be so cold-hearted all the time anymore. It did feel good to lighten up and let it all out. Thanks, Tony." Chloe saw a new light of hope in her life.

"Exactly! That's the attitude! Think of the positives; and when life gets you down, it's healthy to let it all out instead of keeping it all bottled up. Take it from me." Tony smiled.

"Yeah. Hey, at least I'm alive, right? My parents would want me to be happy. So I will be." Chloe stood up and walked back into the school with a new spring in her step. Tony laughed to himself and started towards class.

Pepper found them in the hall after the teacher had asked her to go look for Tony and Chloe. She found Chloe first.

"Hey, you look happy! What happened?" Pepper asked.

"Tony found me crying on the roof and gave me some really good advice…in fact, I think I kind of like him!" Chloe said happily. Pepper was stopped in her tracks. Dumbfounded. _What?_

"L-like him?" Pepper asked. Chloe nodded.

"Yeah! You know, _like _like him!" Chloe explained. Pepper's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe it. She was ready to freak out. _She __can't __like Tony! I do! _Pepper thought.

"Oh, but don't tell him that! Pleeeasee, one girl to another?" Chloe begged. Pepper sighed.

"Fine. I won't say anything to him." Pepper said.

"Thanks so much, best friend!" Chloe skipped off to class. Pepper didn't move. _That _had certainly taken her off guard.

**Oh, I've been waiting to get rid of her negative attitude! Too soon? Idk…I mean, having her attitude change now has left Pepper with her own problem, but if I had delayed it more then it would've left me with a good idea too. Opinions….? Review!**


	4. Or Maybe Not?

**Helloooo! I've got like, an hour to write this up. Can I do it? Let's see! BTW, Chloe's POV.**

I raced home after school, thinking about the day's events. I thought about how I acted this the morning, and the advice I was given by the guy I was starting to like a little. I thought about that. Pepper had seemed a little taken off guard by it, like, really surprised. It was almost as if she likes Tony too…

I shook the thought off. No way, they were just friends. Forget about it. **(A/N: oh, that Tony. He's got like, three girls after him now!) **If she really did like him, though…that would mean trouble for me, and that would be bad. I mean, Pepper and I have already gotten off on a bad foot. We don't need to start a feud.

"Carter, I'm home!" I yelled into the house. She was usually home by now, unless she had to work late for something, which was probably the case now. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a juice box.

**Random flashback!**

"_Mommy, mommy, I'm thirsty! I want juice!" the little girl tugged on her mother's pant leg._

"_Alright, honey. I'll get you a juice box." The mother went into the fridge and handed her little girl a juice box. The little girl ripped off the straw and tried to stick it into the pack but couldn't get it in. She held it up to her mother._

"_Mommy, I can't get it!" the little girl said. The mother grabbed the juice box and stuck in the straw. She lowered it back down to her daughter and the daughter happily sucked on it and skipped away with her teddy bear in her arm. The mother laughed as she placed her hands over her growing tummy._

**Random short flashback endddd!**

I felt a tear come to my eye, then a rush of anger. I threw the empty juice box at the wall and dropped to my knees in tears. It was so unfair; my whole family was taken from me in one fellow swoop. It should make me feel more appreciative of the life I have, that it's not gone, like my parents' and my little brother's is. But I wanted to see them again. I wanted my mother to stroke my hair with her hand, or rub my back in comfort when I'm sad. I wanted her to be there for me, and I wanted my father to be there for me when I get a date, or a boyfriend, and protect me like he should. I wanted my little unborn brother to be here to tease and taunt me so I can be annoyed by him, and mess up his hair.

But they're not going to be until I die. And I'm forced to live a miserable life the rest of my life. I needn't dare being happy. Happiness is for fools. Happiness is something that people with all the right people in their lives get to have. I don't get to have it, I was never meant to have it. Life is just full of sorrows and I'm stuck in the middle of it. There were no joys in my life, no nothing but an empty void of sorrow, despair and nothingness.

I ran up to my darkly painted, darkly decorated room and locked the door.

**(A/N: okayyyy, bye bye to Chloe-POV! Back to MYYYY POVVVV [narrator's POV? Yahhh.])**

At school the next day, Tony and Pepper awaited to see how Chloe was doing. They spotted her walk in the door to their homeroom and sit in her seat without saying a single word to anyone. Her eyes were droopy, as if she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Pepper leaned forward in her desk and tapped Chloe on the shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?" Pepper asked. Chloe didn't turn, didn't speak, and didn't whisper anything.

"Chloe?" Pepper asked again. But Chloe didn't speak to anyone the whole homeroom.

Once the bell rang, Chloe stood and walked into the hallway.

"Hey, what was that all about?" Tony asked as they went after her in the hallway. Chloe stopped and turned.

"You wouldn't understand. I'm just in a bad mood." Chloe tried to be as nice as she could to Tony. She still liked him.

"But, I thought you were all happy after yesterday?" Pepper asked. She was confused. How could she have gotten so negative so quickly?

"Look, you guys may have cheered me up then, but it's inevitable. I was meant to be this way and this is the way I'll live my messed up, stupid life. So just leave me alone, ginger." Chloe snapped. _There she goes with the ginger comments again! _Pepper thought. Chloe brushed past them and walked away. Tony shrugged and they headed to their next class.

Tony wondered about Chloe. She had been gentler and nicer to him, but seemed to not like Pepper at all. There was probably some deep girl reason for it, like the thing between Pepper and Whitney. He didn't know why they hated each other either, but he figured it was nothing he was too concerned about. **(A/N: ahh, Tony is soooo dumb sometimessss: D) **

The professor started talking about some chemistry lesson that Tony already knew; so as always, Tony stopped listening and doodled sketches of the Iron Man armor on his paper. Pepper half-listened, still distracted about Chloe. She was still in shock that she likes Tony. It was bad enough Whitney liked him, now Chloe, and herself? It was all too much. And Tony didn't realize it one tiny bit. He was so oblivious.

Chloe sat in the back of the class where no one paid attention to her, no one saw her, and no one was near her. She stared at the back of Tony's head, and how he was sitting next to Pepper. She despised their seating, and wished she was sitting next to Tony and not that ginger. She thought about Tony more though. She thought about how nice and sincere he was to her on the roof yesterday, how no one had ever treated her so nicely and kindly since her parents died, except _. No classmate had ever dared to go up to her, be nice and say 'hi!' without being told to by an adult with concern. He was being nice.

What reason had he to be nice to her in the first place? Pity? Sorrow? He felt bad for her? Why? She was curious. He was somehow not afraid of much anything. In fact, it was almost like he had a secret. What was he doodling on his notebook paper, anyways?

"Miss Carter? The answer please?" Chloe heard the teacher call on her. Chloe snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the teacher with a questioning look.

"**The question was: what is distillation?" The teacher explained, annoyed. Chloe shrugged, but dared not speak. The teacher turned to his A plus student, Tony.** "**Mr. Stark? The answer please?" Tony, without hesitating, said "Distillation is a widely used method for separating mixtures based on differences in the conditions required to change the phase of components of the mixture." Pepper rolled her eyes at his epic nerdiness in her seat behind him.** "**Very good, Mr. Stark. Now Miss Carter, maybe you'll pay attention in my class." The teacher scolded. Chloe rolled her eyes and turned her head back down to her desk. She continued her doodles of a skull on her notebook.** **After the class bell rang, Tony and Pepper walked back to Chloe.** "**You know, you really should pay attention in class. I can tutor you if you're having any trouble." Tony offered. Pepper grunted at Tony's being kind to her. She didn't exactly take a liking to Chloe after she said she likes Tony. Yet no smile came to Chloe's lips. Just a frown.** "**Thanks for the offer, Tony, but I'm going to pass. I don't care if I fail this class." Chloe said negatively.** "**Now, Chloe, that's not the right attitude. Really, cheer up." Tony said. Chloe just rolled her eyes and brushed past him as she headed towards her next class. Tony was getting annoyed. He tried his best to be nice to her, really he did. But when she just spit back a negative attitude at him, it was irritating. ** **Chloe decided to skip the rest of the school day, since the mod she had next was a free period. She walked out the front steps to the school and down the street. She needed a shortcut that would take her away from the school faster, so she didn't get caught. She noticed an alleyway ahead of her, and decided to cut through it. Once she turned into the alley, she noticed it was poorly lit and fairly dark. The essence of the air was rather eerie, and she was worried that she'd taken the wrong path. **_**Why would I care if something happened to me?**_** Chloe thought to herself, repressing her fears. Then she saw a figure in the shadows. Chloe stopped for a moment and studied it more. She heard a raspy, whispering voice.** "**I see you've chosen the wrong path, girl." The voice said. Chloe looked all around her for the voice but saw no one. Then, where she had imagined a figure, a tall man with a metal bodied-appearance stepped into the dim light. He had glowing whips protruding from his palms. Chloe took a step back, but her facial expression showed no fear.** "**Don't worry about me, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to…offer my assistance. I understand someone in this school is not to your liking." The tall man said.** "**Your assistance? With what?" Chloe asked.** "**Well, you do a little favor for me and I'll do something for you in return." ** "**Like what? What do you want me to do?" Chloe asked, her eyebrows creased in curiosity.** "**Let's learn a little background first. I have a hunch that Tony Stark could be Iron Man. You've heard of Iron Man, haven't you?" the tall man asked. I nodded.** "**Good. Now, I have an idea that if I can get a…inside source, let's say, on Tony Stark, and prove this 'hunch' correct, I can have my revenge on Iron Man. I need you to be my inside source; and in return, I will do a favor for you. Anything you want," the tall man explained. I thought for a moment. Did she really want to do this to someone she liked? Was it worth it to get what she wanted? Chloe thought briefly.** "**I'll do it. And in return," Chloe laughed, ** "**I want you to get rid of Pepper Potts."** One of those DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN! Moments, right? Haha, I totally got the best idea for this story now! It's going to be sooo AWESOMEEEEE, and dramatic, and EPIC! Review! 


	5. What's Up With You?

**Umm. Wowww. I did NOT mean for that last chapter to turn out so crappy. I don't know why it did; I certainly did not type it that way. None of my paragraphs were separated, the bold was in the wrong area, and my ending note was TOTALLY supposed to be on its own line. Sorry…**

**Chloe's POV.**

I walked into the school building the next day and looked around for Tony. So far he wasn't anywhere in the main halls, so I checked by his locker, Rhodey's locker and Pepper's locker. He was at Pepper's locker. I frowned upon him giving her any attention at all, fake-smiled and walked up to them. I'd hate to have to do this, but I had no choice…

"Hey guys!" I said cheerfully; faking, of course.

"Hey. You seem unusually happy today." Tony greeted. Pepper just smiled politely and muttered a hello.

"Yeah. It was just tough to have to go back home after school and have everything remind me of my parents…it made me miserable for a while. But then I remembered what you told me, and it helped me get better." I said, with a hint of seduction and flirt hidden in my words. I could tell Pepper sensed it because she rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's good." Tony said. I nodded. I looked down at my phone as I answered a text message, then leaned against the lockers and glanced down the hall. A tall, masculine, buff football player was walking our way. As he passed us, he bumped my shoulder and sneered.

"Emo kid…" he growled at me. I pretended to look hurt and annoyed and secretly dropped a five dollar bill and kicked it behind me for him to pick up.

"Hey. She's not emo; she just had a tough life. Leave her alone." Tony defended. I caught Pepper sneering with a pissed expression painted onto her face. I smiled. The tall football player sneered at Tony and walked away. I'd thank him for doing the task with a little surprise of my own later.

"Thanks for defending me, Tony. Everyone calls me emo because I was so negative when I first got here." I smiled flirtily. That was one sign already: he was protective. Next test: strength. I glanced at my world history textbook, sitting at the bottom of all my books, and released it from my grip. I quickly moved my foot and watched it drop to the floor.

"Shoot, that thing's so heavy. I drop it all the time…could you pick it up for me, please Tony?" I asked seductively. He smiled at me.

"Sure. No prob." He bent over and picked it up, no problem. I smiled. It wasn't exactly the correct test of strength, but it was still a small sign. I watched as he hauled the textbook farther off the ground with one hand only, and saw his muscles flex. Those were some big muscles, alright. Almost…_Iron Man_ strong.

"Well, we'd better be responsible and get to class. See you later, Tony." I waved flirtily as I walked away.

I pretended to walk away, then turned the corner into a new hallway and peered from around the corner at Tony and Pepper just to see their reaction.

"What the heck was that all about?" Pepper asked. I could tell she was agitated.

"I-I don't know. It was so weird; it was like she was trying to flirt with me or something…" Tony said, confused as ever. Pepper, I could most definitely tell, was _**P-I-S-S-E-D.**_

"What?" Tony asked as he noticed Pepper's fumed facial expression.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Pepper rolled her eyes. She needed a pillow to scream into right about now. Luckily for me I didn't have one, and there wasn't one anywhere near here. She'd just have to release her anger elsewhere. I stood from my spying position and walked to my class, laughing to myself. This should be fun. On my way into my next class, I felt someone bump into me as I looked down at my phone. I looked up to see Rhodey. I glared at him, annoyed.

"You're in my way." I snapped. He took a step back, but didn't say a word. I put my phone in my pocket and strolled into the classroom. I found my seat in the back of the room and plopped my backpack next to my chair. I looked up at the teacher, who was currently calling attendance.

"Chloe Carter?" The teacher called. I raised my hand. He looked around for a moment, caught my raised hand and scribbled something on the attendance sheet. I took out my phone and hid it in my desk as I scrolled through it. I noticed I had an alert. I quickly raised my hand.

"Yes, Chloe?" The teacher asked.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" I asked. The teacher sighed and handed me the bathroom pass. I stood, hid my phone and walked out. I found the girl's bathroom and searched for a window. I spotted a small one quite high off the wall, sitting above a bathroom stall and sighed. I looked down at my outfit: dark skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and a black cropped vest, black ruffled high-heel boots that stopped at my ankles, and black wrinkled and ruffled arm warmers, with the fingers cut off. Not exactly climbing gear. Especially since I had to climb a toilet. I slapped my bathroom pass onto the sink counter.

"Crap…" I walked into the stall and studied the toilet and the walls. I closed the lid on the toilet and stepped onto it. I still couldn't reach the window. I carefully stepped onto the back panel of the toilet and could finally reach the window enough to open it. I unlocked the hatches located on either side of the window and swung it open. I firmly grasped the window frame with both hands and began to pull myself up. I pulled up enough to shift the lower half of my body up and out. As soon as my bottom was out and I was lying on the ground outside the school, I sat myself up and pulled out my feet. I looked up at the wall to the school building that I was looking at, and where outside I had landed. I was on the east side of the building, and there was a classroom window above me. There were no lights on in the room, so I stood from the sidewalk and walked to the crosswalk. I looked at the skyline to see if my metallic boss was around. After all, he'd called for me.

My phone alert said to meet at the alley between two buildings on 34th street. I looked at the street I was on. 32nd street. I had to walk two blocks.

Finally I spotted a shadow between two buildings on 34th street and walked towards it. It was him.

"What clues do you have so far?" he asked.

"So far I have two small clues: he's protective and looks very buff." I explained.

"That's not nearly enough. Follow him home after school secretly and see where he goes. Make sure he does not see you." He instructed me. I nodded. Suddenly, he disappeared.

I knew I couldn't go back to school, or I'd get in trouble. Someone had probably figured by now that I was skipping. I knew that school got out at 2:30, and it was only 8 in the morning by now, so I had the whole school day to myself; alone, in NYC. This should be fun.

**That's all for now! I wonder what Chloe will discover by following Tony….-.- lol, review!**


	6. I've Got You Now

**DA DA DA DAAAA! I'M BACK! OMG. GUYS I AM SO SORRY. My home computer had some virus thingy and it was gone for a whole month and a half! It stunk. I had IMAA and FF withdrawls. And idea buildup. So, every chance I get I'm going to work on updating. Cuz I have a lot of work to do now.**

As soon as I noticed school was let out, I stood at the nearby street corner close to the school and searched for Tony. I spotted him walking out with Rhodey or whatever his name is. No Pepper this time, that's a plus side. I saw him take a right, waited a few minutes, and followed silently; not taking my eyes off of him. He was talking about something I couldn't hear over the usual crowd of the streets. It's not like I cared, either. I felt a feeling of relief that Pepper wasn't around to flirt with Tony without him looking. He didn't deserve her, and she doesn't deserve him. They should NOT be together. **(A/N: by the way, I'm totally against her opinion. It's just from her POV, this is what she thinks and sees. It's a little word starting with a j…) **but I am NOT jealous. No way, ma'am. No sir. Not true. I didn't have romantic or otherwise feelings for either of those two boys I'm basically stalking right now. Promise. I saw them turn the corner and followed. I made sure I was staying distant and quiet so they wouldn't see or hear me doing anything that would resemble following them. They took another turn, as did I after I saw which direction they turned. Finally they came to an old, and by the looks of it, abandoned, factory or something. They walked inside. I quietly and distantly followed them inside.

They walked a series of stairs and paths, until they came to a little area where three chairs, a small TV, and a radio sat. Must be an area they hang out a lot. They walked past it and just kept walking until they came to a large, metal door which required a key-code to open. Tony punched four number buttons and the large door slid open. I was impressed that he'd done all this to an old, forgotten factory place. I followed them in before the door shut. I gasped as I looked around. They must have heard, because they turned around. I hid in a dark corner as I looked around for any signs of Iron Man anything. There was a large screen with two sets of keyboards. Must be a very large computer. I looked up to the high ceiling. There were numbers on what looked like large doors on the walls. There was a room to the side with a glass sheet so you could see inside. Inside, there was a table with…a large suit of armor laying on it? Score! There was only one conclusion for this.

Tony Stark is Iron Man.

I smiled deviously and snapped pictures of the armory on my phone. This was amazing evidence. I snapped a photo of Tony and Rhodey in the armory as they attended to their business. I smiled.

"Foreign cellular device detected." The computer chirped. I cursed under my breath. The computer knew I was here.

"What?" Tony asked, confused.

"How is that possible?" Tony asked.

"Foreign cellular device has been detected in the premises." The computer explained. The boys started looking around and found nothing. I crouched down lower in my corner while I took one last picture. I must have accidently hit flash, because a large burst of light came from my phone and they suddenly saw where I was hiding. Shoot. My cover was blown and now I'm busted…

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Tony asked. I stood out of guilt.

"Me! I'm in here, I followed you in here, and now I have the perfect evidence that you, Tony Stark, are Iron Man!" I exclaimed.

"What? Me, Iron Man? That's ridiculous. I can't be Iron Man." Tony lied. He's really bad at it, too.

"Okay, first, you're a terrible liar. Second, who else could it be? You're the only person smart enough to design and create a suit of weapons-capable armor, besides your dead father. And third, I can see your armors. Duh." I explained. Tony sighed with defeat.

"Alright, you got me. I'm Iron Man. But you can't tell anybody!" Tony exclaimed. I put my phone back in my pocket and my hands behind my back.

"Don't worry, Tony," I crossed my fingers behind my back and smiled deviously, "your secret is safe with me."

"Good. I'm glad I can trust you." Tony said.

"Well, if you don't mind, I have other stuff to do. So I'll see you later," I noticed Pepper walk in and stop in shock. Just to irritate her, I added a bit of flirtiness, "bye Rhodey, bye Tony." I smiled seductively and turned to walk out. As I faced Pepper, I deviously smiled and waved at her; and I could tell it made her mad because she was grunting. I walked out with a satisfied smile on my face.

**Back to Narrator's POV, for the moment.**

"Tony, what the heck was that all about? Did you let her in the armory?" Pepper asked angrily.

"No! Neither of us did, she followed us here!" Tony said defensively.

"What the heck? Why would she care where you two go after school?" Pepper asked, now annoyed.

"I don't know, she was curious? I am a pretty interesting guy." Tony bragged. Pepper put her hands on her hips.

"Tony, I'm serious. She knows you're Iron Man now! There's no way she didn't see!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Pepper, chill! She said she wouldn't tell anyone. My secret's safe with her." Tony said.

"Oh, so I suppose we can all just not care like you, Tony, never care about anything! Get real, boy. She better not spill or so help me god you will be in the most trouble in your life!" Pepper yelled. Tony nodded in understanding and went about his work.

"What are you so mad about? I trust her." Rhodey said, just so the two of them heard.

"You're only saying that because she was flirting all over you two! What was _that _all about?" Pepper grunted.

"I don't know," Rhodey smiled, "But I do know you're just mad that she was flirting with Tony too and _you know you like him_."

"What? I do not!" Pepper said loudly.

"You don't what?" Tony asked.

"I don't, uhh, I was just telling Rhodey that I do not like cheese. He said I did." Pepper lied.

"Nice save." Rhodey whispered sarcastically.

"You, shutup." Pepper said quietly in response.

"Look, Pepper. Chloe, she can see how much you like Tony and she wanted to make you mad." Rhodey said.

"Well it worked." Pepper admitted.

"That's what she wanted to happen. And she's going to keep it up as long as she knows that's what offends you. So you know how to make it not offend you?" Rhodey asked.

"No, how?" Pepper asked.

"Date him," Rhodey said, "and tell him you like him, because he'll say he likes you too and you'll be all couple-y and junk. Then you'll know he's yours and it won't offend you if Chloe flirts. Simple." Rhodey explained.

"What? No way! How do you know he likes me back?" Pepper asked.

"Because I can tell. I can see that in you too. For goodness sakes, even Gene could tell. That's where the whole 'lover's spat' comment came from." Rhodey said. Pepper cringed at the mention of her long-lost friend who's now an enemy.

"Trust me, Pepper, I know what I'm talking about." Pepper looked over at the busy Tony who has successfully buried himself in his work. Maybe…

**Back to Chloe-POV.**

I walked into the dark alley where I saw the silhouette of a man. I approached the shadow and showed the evidence from my phone.

"Excellent," he whispered, "we shall commence part two of the plan."

**WOH! It feels SO GOOD to be updating again. But that's all I have time for now. I have to go beddy-bye. But, good news! I saw on Wikipedia, they had the episode guide for IMAA and they have the first episode for the second season posted (no description though.) and under U.S., it said the premiere time is fall of 2011. So fall of this year our precious season two will be here at long last! And in 2013 IM3 will be here. PSH, that's already my favorite movie (besides the first two of course) and it hasn't even been advertized yet. Kinda sad…lol, I have so much to catch up on here! Review!**


	7. Everyone's Stressed

**Hey peoples. It's updating time againnn. I rather like the way this story is going, too. Well, here we goo.**

"Tony, I still can't believe you let her sneak in like that." Pepper complained.

"Pepper, I told you. I hadn't seen or heard her since school that morning..." Tony groaned. That wasn't

"Well remember what happened at school that morning?" Pepper asked in an aggravated tone.

"Yeah…" Tony sighed.

**Flashbackkkk.**

"_Tony, what's up with you lately? Every time I approach you I hear you talking about something about Iron something, but whenever I ask you what you were talking about you stutter and make up some stupid lie?" Chloe asked, almost flirting. Tony shrugged. _

_"It's almost like you have some sort of dirty little secret...what aren't you telling me, Tony?" Chloe asked seductively._

_"I, uhh...I don't...I don't know what you're talking about..." tony stuttered._

_"HA! You really ARE iron man! Oh, this is great! hah, I'm finally going to get what I've wanted since I came to this school!" Chloe laughed._

_"Chloe, what are you talking about? There's no way I can be Iron Man. Between friends, school, and my dad's company, I have less than no time to be Iron Man." Tony lied nervously._

_"No, oh you're not going to lie your way out of this. I'm going to find out the truth one way or another, whether you like it or not. And once I do, your life will become a living nightmare." Chloe growled. Tony was taken aback by her sudden turn in attitude._

"_Chloe, you don't want to do that." Tony tried to calm her down. It clearly wasn't working._

"_I'm going to get rid of you, once and for all!" Chloe pointed to Pepper. Pepper's eyes widened in shock. Tony looked back at Pepper for a moment and then to Chloe._

_"Chloe, please, don't do that. Pepper didn't do anything to you, you're just angry about something." Chloe walked slowly towards tony and stopped as her face was close to his._

_"Look, Tony. When I first got to this stupid school, I was miserable and stubborn, and no one could help me. But now," she laughed menacingly, "oh, now, I know that the only one who can help me is me and Whiplash. I'm going to get what I want, and I won't stop anywhere, for anyone, until this is achieved. So say goodbye to your stupid little girlfriend, Tony, because she'd done for."_

"_Wh-what? What about Whiplash?" Tony asked. How was she involved with him?"_

"_Tony, Tony, Tony," Chloe shook her head. "I go places, and I see people. Let's just leave it at that."_

_Chloe walked away. Tony's jaw dropped to the ground. No one knew what to say._

**Flashback enddd.**

"Exactly, Tony. So you should have seen this coming. She threatened me, for goodness sakes! She's involved with Whiplash's crazy revenge scheme. Tony, she's dangerous." Pepper warned.

"I know, I know. I'm more than worried about it. If she's really involved with Whiplash, there's no way she didn't tell him I'm Iron Man. That could mean real trouble." Tony explained.

"Yeah. Tony, this is bad. If you don't do something soon, everything is just going to get worse." Rhodey said.

"I know. I'm going to talk to her tomorrow." Tony said.

"Tony, talking isn't good for anything anymore." Pepper said boredly as she grabbed her bag and walked out.

"I've got to go," She said over her shoulder, "See you later."

~…~

Chloe, after having completed her tasks for the day, decided upon returning home. Carmen was fixing dinner.

"Hey there, Chloe, how was school today?" Carmen asked cheerily. Chloe rolled her eyes at her guardian's enthusiasm.

"Stupid," a smile spread on Chloe's face, "but, I did make some new friends this week…" Chloe laughed to herself. Carmen put down the knife she was using to cut up chicken and smiled at Chloe.

"Chloe, that's great!" Carmen exclaimed. With that Chloe's smile quickly faded.

"Yeah. Spectacular," Chloe spat sarcastically as she went to her room. Carmen was quick to follow, and was deeply concerned. Chloe should not still be acting in such a way, she has friends now, and her friends should be giving her hope.

Carmen came to Chloe's door to find it closed. She knocked lightly.

"What do you want?" Chloe snapped from behind her door.

"Chloe, can we talk?" Carmen asked quietly, as to be sensitive towards Chloe in the moment.

"There's nothing to talk about," Chloe complained as she opened her door and leaned against the door frame.

"Chloe, there's a lot to talk about. This attitude of yours has to change, honey," Carmen sat on Chloe's bed and patted the seat next to her. Chloe did not take a seat. Instead she turned to Carmen,

"Don't call me honey!" Chloe yelled defensively.

"Okay, sorry," Carmen said softly.

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me! 'Sorry, I'm so sorry;' what the hell is that good for?" Chloe shouted.

"Chloe, calm down, please." Carmen asked calmly.

"NO! I don't want to calm down, I don't want any more sorries, I don't want any more freaking grief!" Chloe shouted. Ca stood.

"Chloe, calm down. Now." Carmen emphasized, sounding more demanding now.

"I TOLD YOU NO!" Chloe shouted, louder now. Carmen rested a hand on Chloe's shoulder, but Chloe shoved Carmen away. The room fell dead silent. Carmen was shocked and upset at Chloe's action, and Chloe stood in rage.

"Chloe," Carmen stared at her late best friend's daughter like she'd never met her before, yet showed disappointment and anger in her stare,

"What have you become? It's like I don't even know you anymore…" Carmen said quietly. She held back her tears.

"You're miserable all the time, you're defiant and now you're becoming aggressive?" Carmen continued.

"Carmen," Chloe said, a little more calmly but still mad, "after you lose your family in three seconds, there's no coming back to the way things used to be. I'd always hoped you'd at least acknowledge and understand that, but clearly you haven't yet." Chloe brushed past Carmen and walked out of the apartment. Carmen sat back down on the bed and sobbed.

Chloe walked downtown and came to the alley she always meets Whiplash at, and crouched down and sat beside a dumpster so no one would see her drop her face in her hands and cry. She noticed a shadow fall over her as she sobbed. Chloe looked up to see her 'employer'. She didn't bother standing for him.

"What is there to be sad about?" He asked quietly.

"I got in a fight with my guardian." Chloe explained miserably.

"That doesn't matter. After we're done with my master plan you won't need anyone but yourself. Now stand up so I can give you more information about the plan." Chloe did as she was told.

~…~

Tony paced. He was worried deeply.

"Well, we could…no, we can't do that…" Tony paced more.

"Or…no, not that either." Pace.

Stop, "no, that won't work either. Ughh, what am I going to do?" Tony whined as he rested his head on the wall.

"Dude, I got nothing." Rhodey said.

"We can't have nothing, we have to have a plan. We have to be ready. There's a chance that Whiplash, a dangerous criminal, knows I'm Iron Man and could be planning to kill me or something. We have to be ready," He started to pace more.

"Dude, you have to calm down. You're really getting stressed." Rhodey suggested.

"No time, we have to think of a plan." Tony waved off the suggestion.

"You're starting to push yourself too hard again." Rhodey said. Tony looked at his friend.

"Man, we have to be ready. I don't care if I'm pushing myself. If not me, it could be you, or Pepper again, I have no way of being completely ready." Tony complained.

"I'm sure we'll come up with something if we just give it a rest for a while." Rhodey said.

"No, we can't do that, he could attack while our guard is down." Tony explained.

"Well maybe he won't." Rhodey suggested. Tony stopped and looked at him like he'd gone crazy.

"Okay, he could." Rhodey corrected himself. Tony continued pacing.

"What are we going to do?" Tony asked himself. Rhodey didn't like where this was going with Tony. It was going to drive him mad soon if he didn't give it a rest.

"Tony, please take a break." Rhodey asked. Tony stopped pacing and sighed.

"Fine," Tony grabbed a black backpack, "but this is going with me." Tony strapped it onto his back as they walked out. Rhodey rolled his eyes. At least he was taking a break.

**Well, this story is getting pretty serious. I'm trying to hold back from playing out events leading to the fall in action so soon, and trying to stretch out the story more. Let's see how I do. Oh, and constructive criticism is appreciated. Review!**


	8. Don't Break The Ice

**Hey peopleee. So, I have no idea what to do for this chapter….I'll have to sit for a while and think about that, but for now…here we goo. Chloe POV.**

I held the weapon in my possession and just stared at it. I was supposed to use this on the one person out of everyone in my school career to try being nice to me, and try to understand me. And I was supposed to weaken him with this. How can I weaken the first person who knows what I'm going through?

No, he doesn't know anything; his parents went one at a time. Not his whole life in under a minute, no he has no idea. No one understands me, this will be easy. I can so do this…and he guaranteed me a position in Mr. Fix's weapons business, whoever that is. He said I could come up with the ideas, he said I'm smart enough to keep it going. He said maybe I could even have a job in manufacturing; I'd be set my whole life if we just made this one deal. My life is laid out for me. I'm settled before I even begin.

I set the weapon on the floor beside me. I knew I shouldn't be sitting by alleyway filth, but I wasn't planning on going home. Not to Carter, no. I'm not planning on going home for a long time. I don't care who will be worried, no. I don't care for anyone but myself by this point. There was no good in the world but the evil of being bad. It was all that's left for me, and all I will ever have. I don't need companionship, I don't need sympathy, and I don't need anyone to care for me. If there's no one to worry about but myself, life gets easier. Didn't anyone ever notice that?

I noticed the dimmed alleyway light fade completely in human form and looked up to see some random lady standing over me.

"Hey, kid, this isn't the place for you to be. Get going home," a tall red-haired lady spoke in a New York accent that was quite irritating. I stood and walked off. The nerve of some people, telling me what to do. I looked back over my shoulder to see her sigh, shake her head and walk off. I didn't know where I'm going right now, but like I said, it won't be home.

~…~

**Off of Chloe's POV.**

Whiplash gazed angrily at the empty seat ahead of him; he didn't dare touch it. Only one person's butt shall ever touch down on the cushiony surface of the chair, and that was Fix. It felt empty around the place without his boss to angrily deal weapons to people and serve revenge to people who had wronged him, and via his assistant Whiplash nonetheless. Fix is gone forever, and there's no accepting that. Something must be done about it, and the wrongdoer must pay. Iron Man, or Tony Stark, shall he say, is going to get what's been coming to him since that explosion.

Whiplash curled his metallic fingers into two fists and looked down to his feet. He was lucky that he was metal all over, that way he survived. Fix, he was unprotected; stripped of his weapons, his gear; unprotected. So much for being a hero, Iron Man. You ruined my career, my life, thought Whiplash.

Then a thought popped into his head. The girl, he was using her to get what he wanted. Because of her job well done he was able to serve his revenge. She probably deserved what he'd promised her, but he was going to stick to his boss' original orders; no one was to replace him if he'd died suddenly, and no mere girl was fit to replace the power of a genius such as Mr. Fix. Not even close.

Whiplash turned his back to the emptied chair and walked away slowly. Tony Stark was going to pay, and he is going to regret ever inventing a suit of armor in the first place.

~…~

"This isn't good." Tony said as he looked closer at the large computer screen.

"Do you think so?" Rhodey said teasingly, yet seriously. Tony had taken a break for all of half an hour before 'getting an alert from the computers about something important'. A lame excuse to go back to the lab, nonetheless. But if Tony wanted to work himself more than was necessary, there was no stopping him by now. It seemed Rhodey always had the positive perspective on the scene at hand…

"Anyways, what's not good?" Rhodey asked curiously.

"The computer is saying that one of the main armor systems is failing. This is not a good time for the system to be failing." Tony nagged.

"Well can't you fix it?" Rhodey asked. Tony turned his back to the large computer screen and leaned against the counter.

"It's not that easy. It's not saying what's wrong with the system. It's not even saying which system it is." Tony explained,

"And it's odd. It's never been so ill on details like it is. Something could be wrong with a lot more than just a system." Tony sighed.

Unknown to the two friends in the lab, Chloe was hidden behind a corner out of eyesight of the boys. In her hand was Tony's wrench, and the armor was hidden as it was when they'd left the lab earlier. They'd discover in due time what damage had really been done to the armor. She was just waiting for them to leave, and she'd be on her way home.

She laughed silently to herself. Whiplash's further instructions had been clear to her, but she wanted to make herself look good and take it a step father. His plan would be excellently perfected now.

Unfortunately for her, it seemed that the two boys were not going to leave any time soon. She could either show herself, wait until they left, or distract them in some way and then leave. It seemed showing herself was easiest. They'd escort her out anyways. She hid the wrench behind her back and stepped out of the shadows, pretending to be shy.

"Hey! I totally just snuck into your lab again, Tony, sorry…" Chloe said shyly, secretly setting the wrench down.

"Chloe? Look, Chloe, now isn't the best time for you to be here…" Tony tried to sound as nice as possible.

"Oh, sorry Tony, I didn't know you were so stressed out right now," Chloe added just a drop of seductiveness into her words. She set a hand on his shoulder and let it slide across his neck, to his cheek and to his other shoulder as she crossed him on her way out. Her hand slid off his shoulder and into a suttle wave.

"See you around, Tony." Chloe walked out.

"And you tell me I drool over girls." Rhodey teased.

"What? I am not drooling over her; I don't like her like that." Tony defended.

"Yeah," Rhodey rolled his eyes, "sure."

~…~

Chloe eventually found her way out of the compound with a sly smile across her face. She was oh so good at that, and as it seemed, she had Tony wrapped around her finger. Maybe even, if she could get him alone for long enough, she could get him to side with her and betray his friends. Maybe she could get started on that…

As she continued walking, reaching the main streets of the city, she felt someone bump into her.

"Hey, watch it!" Chloe smiled when she noticed it was none other than Pepper.

"Well, if it isn't the ginger! Where you off to now, Strawberry Shortcake?" Chloe taunted. Pepper sneered.

"Wherever you're not, goldilocks," Pepper crossed her arms.

"Look, ginger, if you know what's best for you you'd back off, because I can have you killed like that," Chloe snapped her fingers in Pepper's face, "and you'd never see your precious boyfriend again. So lay off and get lost, loser." Chloe spat, walking off.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Pepper yelled after her. Chloe laughed and continued on her way. Pepper grunted and angrily went on her way to Tony's.

**Sorry if this chapter came out short, it's kind of a filler anyways...I'm just building up the suspense and all that, you know? Anyways, review. **


	9. Danger, Cousin Of Stress

**Hey peopleee. See, I kept my promise. I'm updating, and if I have time I'll update some other stories. Depending on which ones need updating. Lawll. Chloe-POV.**

I walked deeper into the alley looking for Whiplash. He wasn't in the beginning this time; apparently there was a deeper section to the whole thing. The dead end to the alley must have been an illusion, then, because I didn't notice a corner before. As I got deeper into the alley, it got darker around me. I saw a dim light from the corner of my eye as I scanned my surroundings and moved towards it. Whiplash was in the very dead end of the alley, where no one else would think to look or even see anyone.

Tony had warned me to turn away from Whiplash's greed and crazy schemes, but I didn't pay any mind to it. He'd kept warning me not to take the wrong path and end up in jail, because there are some people in JUVY that would not be pleasant to her. He'd said so many things that I probably would have listened to if I had any better judgment left in me; too bad I don't. I took a few steps closer to Whiplash, seeing as I was a few feet away from him and would have a better time paying attention in general if I was a bit closer.

"Tonight is the time to enact the final stage of my plan," Whiplash began, "do you still have the weapon I gave you?" He asked. I nodded and pulled it from behind my back.

"Good. You are to get him alone, so you can use it on him. It will stun him, rendering him weakened for just enough time to create a diversion that makes Iron Man rush to the scene. Then you must weaken him using the weapon. Do you understand?" He ordered. I nodded and saluted with a fierce poker face.

"But sir," I creased my eyebrows, "what will you do with him then?" I asked. He smiled.

"Kill him." I smiled and laughed with him.

~…~

"I feel more stressed than I was the time Ghost was hunting me." Tony complained as he walked into school.

"Tony, that's exactly how Chloe wants you to feel. She wants you to get so stressed by waiting for her to attack you that you slip up, like, one tiny mistake and you're done for!" Pepper theorized.

"Pepper, shut up. That's not helping." Rhodey warned. Pepper grunted and slapped his arm.

"That's not what she wants to happen. If anything she's just going along with Whiplash's plan, whatever that may be." Tony stopped walking.

"Guys, none of this is helping!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry." Rhodey and Pepper said, almost in unison. They continued walking. To Tony's dismay, they saw Chloe was actually in school today. Tony felt panicked, like she could just up and pin him to a wall and have Whiplash finish the job at any moment. Chloe noticed them and approached them. Tony felt more panicked with each step she took to grow nearer to them.

"Hi guys!" She stopped in front of the three. They didn't respond; instead, Pepper sent glares of anger, Tony looked at her trying to hide his nervousness, and Rhodey trying not to show any emotion at all.

"Look, if you think I'm just doing this for the sake of having revenge on the world for my own past, it's not that. Sure, if you don't believe me, go ahead and tell yourself you know my problem but I can assure you that it is not. I don't have a problem. I just want to do what I do and be done with it. It's far too late to talk me out of doing what I have to do soon, but I just wanted to let you know I appreciate your friendliness. It really put me in the right direction." She spoke insincerely and laughed as she walked away.

"This just keeps getting worse and worse!" Tony complained as he watched Chloe walk further down the hall.

That, of course, led him to be panicked and at a state of unease throughout the day. He dreaded any classes shared with Chloe, passings of Chloe in the hallway, unwelcomed visits from Chloe during his free or lunch periods, or any other time he would happen to be near her. He feared for his friends, and their safety. He dreaded that they were already dead in the hands of Chloe, the dark destroyer. Of course, Tony knew that was exaggerating her character just a bit, but he was stressed and therefore didn't care. He and his friends were in danger, and he feared that he was virtually helpless to help them.

Even after school he was stressed. He almost wouldn't walk home.

"Tony, this has to stop. She hasn't bugged us all day, what makes you think she will now?" Pepper complained. Her theory was that the more he stressed the less he would notice her efforts of flirting.

"You don't know that. She could be anywhere, at any time." Tony kept darting his eyes back and forth, street corner to street corner as he spoke.

"Well I'll see you when you're chill." Pepper turned the corner to her apartment building.

"She has a point you know. You need to calm down." Rhodey suggested softly.

"How can I calm down when there's a crazed teenage girl on the loose?" Tony said. Rhodey rolled his eyes as he folded his arms.

"Yeah. Because a teenage girl is so dangerous."

"Shut up." They reached the compound, Rhodey separating so he could bring their backpacks into the house, leaving Tony to wind his way through several flights of stairs and levels, until he reached the armory. He punched in the four-number code that opened the laboratory door so he could walk inside and work on fixing the armors.

Much to his dismay, who he discovered in the armory once he entered was not a pleasant visit.

"Hi, Tony." The girl greeted malevolence thick in her tone. She was leaning against the wall with some sort of laser gun in her hand, in which she was twirling and playing with as she watched him.

"Chloe? What are you doing here?" Tony asked, all previous panic rushing into his mind all at once.

"I thought I'd stop by and say hello…or, should I say, goodbye." She eyed the weapon in her hand. Tony backed away with his hands in the air in an 'I surrender' way.

"Chloe, please don't do what I think you're going to do. I know somewhere inside you you don't want to do this." Tony pleaded. Chloe smiled.

"Oh, but I do. I'm sorry, I didn't know you think you know me, because sadly you don't," she aimed at Tony, taking steps closer to him, "I'm kind of let down, Tony. I thought you were interested enough in me to get to know me better than that." Chloe pushed the laser gun onto his upper chest, above his heart and used her free hand to brush her finger down his cheek, chin, and then neck. It was more flirtatious than threatening, but by the time her filed fingernail reached his neck she pushed down on his skin, thus piercing it, causing blood to seep out. Tony winced at the pain, but didn't dare to move.

"Wh-why are you doing this? I thought I found a friend in you." Tony's voice was shaky.

"See, that's your problem Tony. You just come up with your favorite conclusion and you always assume its right because you think you know everything, but you don't. There's not nearly enough about the real world that you could possibly know. You don't even know what reality is. You've just been living in your fantasy world all this time, haven't you? You think you have it so rough, this life, being Iron Man and dealing with all those people who want to kill you." She removed the laser gun from his chest and aimed it at the wall. She pulled the trigger and a wide laser flew out of it, leaving a burn mark on the wall. Tony suddenly felt the threat in her action.

"Well, let me tell you, your life aint nothing. I _wish _I had your life. I figure it's about time you get a glimpse of reality." She aimed the laser gun back to Tony and pulled back the trigger, but waited to release it.

"But it's been just dandy getting to know you." She smiled. Suddenly, the last thing Tony could see as he fell to the ground was the smug look on Chloe's face as she watched him fall.

"Nighty night, Tony," she brushed past his fallen body and bent over his ear, "don't worry, it's only temporary. You'll just feel like you're about to die for a couple days." She whispered into his ear and patted his cheek as she stood to leave. Tony shook with fear and weakness as everything went dark around him.

**H-U-G-E C-L-I-F-F-H-A-N-G-E-R SPELLS OMGG! Lawl, that's getting so dramatic! It's getting so amazingly actiony that I'm going to work on the next chapter right away! Review!**


	10. No Turning Back

**HEEEY :D OMAGAWDD, two chapters in a night. What a treat! I'm not exactly sure if I want to fit the ending into a last chapter, or spread it onto several chapters. I'm leaning more towards several, but I'd need to think of filler events.**

Pepper was surprised to not hear the sound of Tony working on an armor to hide stress. In fact, she didn't recall seeing him anywhere near his workbench. As she walked further into the lab, calling for Tony to come out from wherever he was hiding, she heard a small whimper and her foot bumped into something soft. She looked to her feet to see Tony laying on the floor, wincing in pain. She immediately bent down to tend to him.

"Tony! What the heck happened? Are you okay? Do you need your charger, OH MY GOSH ARE YOU DYING?" Pepper panicked. Tony tried to sit up. Every movement seemed to send a burning pain through his entire body.

"I-I'm not d-dying, P-Pepper." Tony groaned. It seemed hard to even speak without pain. Pepper supported him as he stood with worry deep in her frown.

"Tony, what happened?" Pepper asked once more. She sat him down on a nearby chair.

"I-it was Chloe, she blasted me with some sort of…laser gun," Tony's pain was evident in the way his voice quivered.

"_Chloe _did this? OOH, I knew she was no good from the day she told me she likes you!" Pepper huffed, crossing her arms.

"She likes me?" Tony planted a smug look on his face. Pepper cursed under her breath for having said that out loud.

"Wait why would that make her no good?" Tony asked, confused. Pepper blushed.

"No reason, nothing, forget it." She said quickly. Tony shrugged.

"But, if she likes me, then why did she try to kill me? And why try when she could just fire at my heart and kill me instantly?" Tony wondered.

"Because it's probably part of some plan! She probably didn't mean for you to die because she wanted it to be easier for Whiplash to kill you off!" Pepper theorized.

"Could that be why?" Tony pondered.

"Tony, you're in danger." Pepper warned.

_Disturbance downtown identified as: Whiplash._ The computer chirped, suddenly disrupting their thoughts. Tony slowly and weakly stood from his chair and slowly dragged himself to the computer screen, each step searing pain. Tony took once glance at the computer screen before hobbling along to lower the armor.

"Tony, no, you're too weak! You'll get yourself killed; it's exactly what she wants!" Pepper tried to stop him. Tony turned to her with all his energy.

"Pepper, please understand, I have to do this. It's the only way." Tony was engulfed in red and yellow armor. The systems chair automatically lowered itself and Pepper immediately climbed her way into it.

"Tony, this is crazy. If you fight him you'll be killed for sure." Pepper tried to get him to turn back.

"Pepper, I'll be fine."

"You'll die."

"Get Rhodey."

"I can't let you do this!"

"It's too late to stop me."

"Ugh, now you sound like Chloe!"

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"Do no—"

"Back for more, Stark?" Whiplash greeted. It took all the remaining strength in Tony's body to halt. Of course, to his dismay, Chloe was standing on the rooftop of a nearby building, maliciously smiling and waving at him; seeming to now have her own combat suit. Tony felt a little more threatened than when she just had the weapon…

**Well, I know what I'm going to do now. The next few chapters might vary in length, some could be long and some could be short. This one happened to be short…sorry. I know, I know, I wanted it to be longer too. But I want to actually have a story that goes past like 10 chapters total, and quite frankly I'd like it better if the ending was a bit more stretched out. The next one might be slightly longer. Idk. Review!**


	11. Weak

**Hey guys! I know I'm updating a little more frequently than usual, but A, this story is exciting and B the ending chapters are kind of quick so I'd like to post them relatively close together. **

Carmen's concern turned to fear as she realized as she awoke on her couch to find that Chloe had not returned home since she'd left last night. It was unlike her to just leave, she'd been taught the value of having an adult know where she is at all times. Carmen scrambled for her cell phone, as she had fallen asleep in her day clothes.

"Yes, hello, my name is Carmen Simmons, and I'm calling because my…my daughter went missing as of last night." Carmen had always contemplated what Chloe was to her, and most of the time she concluded that she was a child of importance to her; but now, she saw that poor Chloe needed a mother's guidance more than ever and that she, Carmen, adored having Chloe as the daughter she never had.

"She's missing as of now?" A man on the other end asked.

"Yes. We were in her room a few hours after she came home from school yesterday and after a little spat, she stormed out and never came back." Carmen tried not to sound sarcastic.

"I'm going to have to ask you to continue the investigation at the police station." Carmen agreed and hung up her phone as she put it back in her pocket. She grabbed her car keys and rushed out the apartment door and down to her car.

Not soon enough, it seemed, she arrived at the police station and raced inside.

"Carmen Simmons? I just called?" Carmen asked.

"Yes, right this way." A man in a police uniform led Carmen to a back room for investigations.

"Do you know of any friends she has?" He asked, furrowing his brow and preparing a pad of paper and a pen.

"I believe she mentioned a fellow, Tony Stark, and some girl named Pepper Potts, but that's all I've heard. She doesn't like to socialize." Carmen explained. The police officer scribbled something down on the notepad.

"We will put out a search and call her friends and see what we can do, but for now just keep a sharp eye out for her." Carmen nodded and stood to leave.

"Thank you. And if you need to contact me, here's my number." Carmen slipped the officer a small piece of paper and started to leave to search for Chloe.

"What is your daughter's last name?" He asked, before Carmen had a chance to leave.

"Carter. I'm her guardian." Carmen explained. He nodded and scribbled more on the paper. Carmen entered the thick spring nighttime air. She stood on the steps to the Police Station and surveyed her surroundings. She decided to start on the left end of the city.

She feared for Chloe, being all alone and alone in New York City. She could have gone off to her friend, but in her anger it wasn't likely. Ever since her parents were killed, she'd preferred to be alone. She never wanted company, she just wanted alone time. Never friend time.

"Chloe? Chloe, are you here?" Carmen called into the lonely street; no answer.

"Chloe?" Carmen called again. No use. She walked further down the street, into Times Square; there were people there, but alas, no one was who she was searching for.

~…~

_**Three hours earlier…**_

Chloe walked into the dark, abandoned building with care. It looked like not even the lowest hobo would choose to reside here, but apparently Whiplash thought different. She looked for the door as was described to her via a note sent to her through her phone. The note had said find a flight of stairs next to a conveyor belt station that had a slight tear in the belt and descend them to the lower level in the building. She looked around for the correct conveyor belt, and soon found it along with the stairs. She went down the stairs, as was told, and landed in a dark, windowless room at the landing. The basement of the abandoned factory, it seemed, had been neglected even when the factory was running; there were cobwebs that seemed centuries old.

She found the shape of a door and felt around for the knob. Instead of a knob, she found a light switch. She clicked it on to see that the basement was filled with packages and boxes of different shapes and sizes. It seemed it was only used for storage. Chloe looked around at the labels of different boxes; some read 'lasers', others read 'guns', so on so forth. Chloe came to a large, dusty box at the end of the shelf that she couldn't quite make out at first. She squinted and leaned in to it to find that it read _'Mr. Fix's Gear' _on it. As she started to take it off the shelf, she was startled out of her curiosity with a jump.

A hand from behind her pushed the box back onto the shelf and turned her to face him with an irritated expression upon his face. Chloe was alarmed at his appearing anger, afraid he would punish her by arresting her or hurting her or something; instead he gently pushed her away from the shelf in warning.

"Do not go near that box again." He warned. I nodded with strict silence and followed him into another room. The room was filled with computers stacked atop each other, a chair and a keyboard. Aside from that were more shelves, hidden in the shadows where the computer screens could not stretch their orange light. It was the only light the room had; no lamp, no ceiling lamps, just computer screens. Chloe glanced to him curiously.

"What is this room?" I asked. Ignoring me, Whiplash pulled a box from the nearby shelf and open the flaps. I was curious as to what he was showing me, and why it was relevant to his plan. She figured since he was the boss, and he had access to weapons that she couldn't even imagine, it was best not to question his motives. Whiplash fussed with the tape holding the box shut, frustrated. Finally, he got the tape off and opened the top then inner flaps to the cardboard box and pulled out a black full-body suit that looked fit for a female body. He handed it to me. Taking it, I gave him a questioning look.

"This is a combat suit. Hence the name, it is designed to strengthen the wearer in a fight. It was designed by top S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and tested on one and only one S.H.I.E.L.D. operative. It is now yours to use to assist me in killing Tony Stark." Whiplash pulled out the matching utility belt and set it on the chair. Chloe surveyed the costume.

"What happened?" She asked. Whiplash was silent.

"During the test. What happened?" Chloe clarified.

"The test failed. The subject was incapable of handling the power and eventually died of it." Whiplash turned to rid of the box. I stood in the dark room, orange glow from the computers hitting my back. I looked it over more as I waited for my next assignment.

"Well, put it on! We have work to be done." Chloe jumped and ran to lock the door shut so she could change.

~…~

Tony groaned in pain. There was no way he had the strength to keep doing this, but he knew that for the sake of his life and the lives of the city, he had to keep fighting. He had to go on, he couldn't stop. He ignored the constant pleas from his friends to quit while he was ahead, because he could keel over dead any second. They warned him that he needed to rest, he needed to get better, get stronger, he wasn't right to do this. But he knew he had to. He knew he could stop Whiplash from killing him and get Chloe to go good again. He'd done it once, right?

"I'm surprised you're even here. Aren't you in pain? Why don't you give in?" Whiplash commented.

"Because I won't let you kill me, I won't let you kill the citizens of this city, or put anyone in harm's way." Tony answered in a struggling tone. He tried to ignore the cries of pain his body was screaming to him. He felt something warm dripping from his neck down his arm, knowing it was from Chloe who had cut him and hit him, causing the small wound to enlarge, almost dangerously. He felt the blood fall to his hand and hoped he wouldn't fall to the ground and pass out any moment now.

"Well, don't let me get in your way." Chloe budded in, kicking Tony's helmet. His head bounced around inside from the impact, creating a super headache on his part. Tony released his grip on Whiplash and fell onto the roof of a nearby building, holding his head in pain. Chloe landed back on the building and strode to him.

"You know, it's too bad I have to kill you Tony, because I was starting to really like you." Chloe smiled and laughed as she aimed a weapon at Iron Man, "It's just a shame that I know all your weaknesses. Then again, it's obvious enough already what those are." She pulled the trigger and held it back.

"I don't have a weakness." Tony tried building energy.

"Oh, you don't?" Chloe said as she bent down and tapped his uni-beam; Tony knew it was clear that she was referring to his heart. He knew it was a weakness, and he knew that the device currently saving his life could be the death of him; but he would not let himself be killed by a girl that he knew there was good in. Chloe stood, slowly releasing the trigger as not to fire the weapon. She strode away from him, fiddling with the weapon as she crossed her arms.

"Oh, and as if that weren't enough, I know your other weakness is just as powerful." Chloe pointed to the floor nearby where a redheaded girl sat against a wall, arms and legs tied and mouth taped; a tear streaming down her cheek. Tony felt a large fit of anger build up inside him that overcame all the searing pain in his body enough to charge at Chloe full-out. Chloe stood on the receiving end calmly as she watched Iron Man race towards her, smile wide on her face.

As Tony watched Chloe, he found his strength fade away. He couldn't do it, he couldn't hit her. It wasn't in his nature to hit a girl, he'd been raised better. Especially one that understands what it's like not having parents, and one who could understand what he'd gone through so well. He stopped in front of her, hanging his head low.

"That's what I thought." Chloe commented, aiming her weapon once again.

**Longer chapter, wasn't it? I stopped myself before I ended the story too soon. Yaay self-controllll XD Well, on another note, winter break week=update and/or finish Her Story. Sooo, I hope I'll be done with this one by the time I go back to school. Might be, might not be. Reivew!**


	12. Letting Go

**Hooray for my shower for giving me this chapter! Lol. Break week is going to allow me to get some stuffs done! YaYYYYYYness.**

"Let her go, Chloe." Tony warned. He glanced over at Pepper through the corner of his eye; fear was deep in her features. Chloe circled Tony so she was facing his side, near Pepper. Tony turned to face her.

"Well, let's make a little deal," Chloe smirked, "let me kill you and I'll set her free." Chloe offered. Tony was silent. He knew it was a no-brainer, he would lay down his life for anyone in danger; she was no different. He looked to the floor, then to Pepper, then to Chloe.

"I'll do it." Pepper's tears flowed faster. She struggled to untie herself, but could not.

"That's more like it." Chloe pulled back the trigger.

"Wait!" Tony held out his hand in protest. Chloe lowered her weapon and glared at him, annoyed; hands on her hips.

"What now?"

"I want you to let her go before you kill me." Tony demanded. Chloe glanced to Pepper.

"And why should I? You can't make me." Tony sent her an angered glare, indicating he was serious.

"Alright, I'll let her go." Chloe went over to Pepper and untied her. Pepper immediately rose in fear. Tony aimed a repulsor at her and fired; Chloe was sent flying into a stack of crates, rendering her motionless just long enough for Tony to say one last thing.

"Tony are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Just beat her up! You don't have to do this! It's crazy, it's unlike you…" Tony clamped his hand over her mouth. He was silent a moment before releasing his hand from her mouth.

"Tony, are you afraid to hurt her?"Pepper asked, half annoyed with the question and half worried that Tony wasn't going to stop her now, while she was down, and then they'd be doomed forever.

"What? N-no, no, that's not it," Tony stuttered.

"Then shoot her now!" Pepper yelled.

"I-I can't!" Tony panicked.

"You have to!"

"I just can't do it!"

"WHY NOT?"

"Because she's innocent and I can't hit a girl!" Silence. Pepper couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Well if you don't then I'm going to hit you! Innocent? It doesn't seem that way, Tony!" Pepper said, annoyed.

"Well she didn't mean to turn down the wrong path! She just felt lost, and she found the wrong person." Tony said calmly, staring at the fallen girl through his mask.

"Tony, she's not who you thought she was." Pepper said calmly yet sprinkling a hint of crestfallenness in her tone. Tony didn't reply. Pepper sighed.

"She is inside," tony said quietly.

"She's the first person I've met since my dad's...accident...that understands what I'm going through. There has to be good in her," Tony pleaded. Pepper was silent.

"Tony, you have real friends that understand you. We understood you from the beginning." Pepper said sadly. Her initial fear that Tony would actually fall for this new girl was growing increasingly obvious. He was actually falling for her; which made Pepper fear she was losing him.

"Well I think you're crazy, Tony." Pepper folded her arms.

"People do crazy things when they're in love," Pepper looked confused, then noticed that he was talking about her, not Chloe.

"I'd die for you, and this is the only way to make peace. If Whiplash and Chloe want me dead, so be it. If that's going to shut them up, then that's what I'm going to do. Please, Pepper, I'm sorry. I have to do this." Tony noticed Chloe begin to stir, throwing pieces of crate off of her. He opened his face plate to show her his eyes one last time. Pepper leant in and kissed his cheek. Tony placed his hands on either of her cheeks before she could turn away. He looked into her eyes one last time, and studied her face. He studied each small freckle that decorated the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. He studied the way her red hair fell to her shoulders. He studied the forlorn frown sitting below her nose. He studied her sad, pleading eyes again. He dropped his hands to his sides, his eyes welling with tears.

"Get out of here, Pepper, go where you're safe." Tony warned.

"Goodbye, Tony…" She sighed, walking off. Tony watched her walk off, distracted from the female who was walking towards him with a weapon aimed at him.

"See, Tony, remember that day on the roof? You told me you understand what I'm going through. And I said I can't be so cold hearted all the time," she pulled the trigger, "guess I was wrong." she walked away.

Suddenly, Tony felt himself fly against the wall as result of the impact of Chloe's fist. Whatever that suit was composed of, it was making her superhumanly powerful. Tony stood and didn't move. His courage had dried his earlier tears and he left his face plate open.

"Go ahead, kill me. If that's what you want. If that's what's going to make you happy, then go ahead." Tony looked at Chloe and saw a different person than the one he'd met. It looked, for a moment, that she felt sorrow and regret; but it didn't last long. She smiled devilishly at him.

"Oh, but it's not me who's going to do the killing. I'm not the one who wants revenge," Whiplash landed on the roof behind Tony, "He is." Tony turned to face Whiplash, noticing the weapon he was wielding. It looked like the one Chloe was carrying, but larger and more powerful. Tony appealed as though he didn't care. Which was true, in some ways, but was not in other ways.

"If its revenge you want, then you can have it. Just kill me," Chloe strode next to Whiplash, triumphant smirk on her face. Tony found a discarded shard of broken mirror that had been left there by an occupant of the building they were on top of. He looked to Chloe in disappointment.

"Just look at who you've become, Chloe." Tony kicked the shard over to her, feeling traces of pain from the earlier laser fire from when they were in the lab. Chloe looked at Tony, confused. Tony closed his face plate in denial of her pity as Chloe picked up the shard of mirror. She looked at her reflection in it, but only saw a monster. She wasn't Chloe Carter, she was a demon. She saw a ruthless, heartless killer. She'd become the person who had killed her parents. There was fear and regret pouring out of her as she stared more into her reflection. She dropped the shard to her side and watched as Whiplash was about to fire at Iron Man.

"NO!" She screamed, kicking Whiplash off the edge of the building. She watched him fall to his doom, and walked away from the ledge as the police arrived. Tony was confused under his armor. Chloe strode over to him and rested her hand on his shoulder in silence as she looked to the floor. She thought of how her parents had raised her to be a good person, and how Carmen had tried to raise her that way as well. She thought of how she had failed them, how she must have disappointed them in every way.

She dropped her hand to her side and backed away from Tony. She dropped herself to the ground, sitting cross-legged. She looked down to the roof she was sitting on as Tony sat down across her in silence. He looked at her with sorrow. He felt bad for her, she must hate herself right now, Tony thought. He looked out to the city that surrounded him so he could give her time to clear her mind. He looked back at her, unable not to say something.

"You saved me." Tony said softly. Chloe looked up at him. HE could tell that she was deeply disappointed with herself.

"I'm a monster," Chloe spoke. She looked at her hands, "these hands were used to harm…" Tony didn't say anything to her, instead allowed her to speak. Tears started falling from her eyes.

"I hurt you, Tony…I nearly killed you...I cut you, I blasted you, I scared the girl you love half to death…" Tony looked to her, confused at her last statement. He let it slide, knowing it was true that he did love the redhead. He'd told her, anyways. His thoughts of hoping she got to a safe place distracted him from Chloe.

"I let everyone down." Chloe cried softly.

"You didn't let me down." Chloe looked to Tony. She felt even worse as she saw his unmasked, bare face.

"You were wrong to believe in me, Tony; dead wrong…I'm so sorry for hurting you…" Chloe looked down to the concrete roof below her.

"You didn't mean to." She looked back to Tony. He stood and offered her a hand.

"I'm like a broken CD, Tony," Chloe brushed the dirt off of herself and looked back to Tony, "there's no fixing me."

~…~

Tony re-entered the armory via the sky so he could take off his armor. By the look on his face, he wasn't very happy about his victory.

"Well, what happened?" The comm. Systems broke down after she shot you." Rhodey asked after Tony put the armor away.

"She saved me." Tony explained.

"You mean you got through to her?" Tony nodded. He noticed that Pepper was behind Rhodey.

"So what's wrong?" Pepper spoke up.

"I don't know. I feel bad for her, I guess. I don't know where she is now, but she's going home to make amends with her guardian." Tony explained.

"Well as long as she's good now, and she's happy, then we have no problem anymore.

"I guess." Tony sighed.

"Well my mom's asking for help moving the couch so she can vacuum, so I'll meet you at the house." Rhodey walked out. Tony looked to Pepper. Pepper smiled.

"So," Pepper walked around Tony, and then stopped when she was standing an inch from his front side.

"Did you mean all the stuff you said up there?" Pepper asked quietly. Tony smiled.

"Now why would I lie about that?" Pepper smirked.

"Maybe you love me more than you said." Pepper leaned in and kissed him.

**Well, that was cool. Don't worry, there's a chapter or two more, depending on if I want to use the idea I have. I even have a sequel idea o.O anyways, review!**


	13. Solace

**Heey peoples. I am so mmaaaaaaaaadddddddddddddddd now! That's the second show that returned for a new season before IMAA did….*angry grunt***

As Tony worked his way around the lab, he felt himself start to weaken. In all that had happened, he'd forgotten that Chloe had cut him and enlarged the wound by shooting near it. He felt weaker with each step, and was limping around the lab as he tried to ignore it; alas, it was getting to him slowly. He felt the dried blood staining his neck with his hand, yet still felt more dripping out. He would get around to cleaning it up when he was less busy. For now, it was back to ignoring the obvious by burying his head into a thick pile of work.

Suddenly, Tony's pale body fell to the ground.

~...~

"What happened?" She asked.

"He's lost a lot of blood from this wound of his. We did the best we could. With luck he'll be awake within a couple hours to a couple days. He's lucky he has a common blood type or he'd be done for." The doctor explained. She looked over Tony's pale, unwoken body with silence as she rubbed the band-aid on her arm. She remembered how he'd told her he'd die for her. The words echoed in her head…_people do crazy things when they're in love._

"It's my fault, I know it." The redhead looked up to Chloe in the doorway to the hospital room. Chloe walked up next to Pepper and stared at Tony as Pepper was.

"He really loves you, you know." Chloe said, not bothering to look up at the girl. Pepper remembered the day Chloe had said she likes Tony. She didn't feel angered by the statement anymore, oddly enough.

"Doesn't that hurt you?" Pepper asked. Chloe turned to Pepper and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Pepper, I may have lived a miserable life," Chloe stuffed her hands back into her coat pockets and looked back to Tony,

"But I still believed in destiny."

The room was silent as they looked down to Tony's body. Chloe noticed the band-aid on Pepper's arm and eyed it a moment in curiosity.

"Wait, did you…?" Chloe asked, pointing to the spot on her arm where a small prick had been made earlier.

"Yeah. The doctors said that they'd gotten as much donations as they could, but they needed like, a pint or two more in order to restore his blood to a healthy level." Pepper explained. Chloe nodded.

"He's really important to you, isn't he?" Chloe asked, sounding more hurt than sincere. Pepper didn't respond for a moment, but instead pondered what she was going to say next.

"In all honesty, yes." Pepper explained.

"So, when I told you I was starting to like him, you really did feel threatened and jealous?" Chloe asked, crossing her arms and turning to Pepper.

"How could you tell?" Pepper asked. Chloe laughed sincerely.

"Oh, Pepper, it was obvious if you looked at it long enough." Chloe explained. Noticing Pepper's 'what?' expression on her face, she sobered her amusement.

"Don't worry, I'd never get in the way of two people who are obviously in love with each other." Chloe assured her. Pepper looked relieved at that statement. Chloe laughed more to herself.

"You know, you are so funny sometimes. And I mean that in the nicest way."

"Wait, where are you going?" Pepper asked as she noticed Chloe leaving. Chloe stopped in the doorway, but did not turn back to the redhead.

"Oh, business affairs," Chloe looked over her shoulder.

"See you guys around...maybe." Chloe exited the hospital.

~…~

"Good afternoon, Miss Carter." A tall, brunette woman in a navy blue uniform stood at the end of the sidewalk that led from the hospital doors to the city surrounding it. I surveyed the woman standing before me in curiosity, but did not say anything in response. I almost expected an explanation as to the miniaturized aircraft sitting behind the woman; and who she was and what she wanted from me.

"My name is Agent Wilson, and I work for an organization named S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury would like to have a word with you." She started her way back into the large aircraft, but stopped and turned back to me. She waved a hand at me, indicating that she wanted me to follow her lead. I hesitated for a moment, then followed into the aircraft and heard the door shut behind her. There were a couple rows of seats, and Agent Wilson took a seat in the front seat. The pilot must be in a disclosed control room, because I didn't see a door anywhere. I hesitated to take a seat, but then found one behind agent Wilson.

I hoped that there would at least be a window to gaze out of, but there wasn't. The aircraft seemed to give off a vibe that everything was entirely business and professional. Everything was of tip-top shape, nothing was a joke, and everything was too serious. They seemed to do a good job of locking out emotion in this place, because I didn't catch any signs of a smile anywhere. I assumed the aircraft had landed based on the small bump and sudden lack of movement. Agent Wilson stood.

"Well, come on!" Agent Wilson prodded. I stood from her seat and followed the agent out the door to the aircraft. What seemed like a landing pad was actually located on the largest thing floating in the sky that the world today knew: the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. I looked around at the vast amount of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents guarding doors with who knows what stuff were behind them, walking around, or just monitoring something. I wondered why I was here, following this stranger, when I was taught millions of times never to talk to strangers; obviously she hadn't followed that rule before, but that was a different Chloe Carter. I know I am going to change now; things are different.

Agent Wilson stopped and stood next to a tall, dark skinned man wearing an eye patch. I stopped a decent distance from the man, noticing his overall angered expression. I surveyed the man as to get a good idea of which way was the correct way to understand his motives. The man smirked at me in what appealed as amusement, and everyone was silent as they waited for the tall guy to speak and explain himself.

"That's what I like about you, Carter. You asses people before making your move." The man spoke. I gave him a look of confusion, but still did not speak. The man folded his arms and gave a light chuckle to me as to try to calm my nerves; or so I thought. Maybe on his side, it was a different story.

"My name is Nick Fury. And you're here because I have been watching you." I looked confused at this so called 'Nick Fury'. I had never really heard of S.H.I.E.L.D., or Nick Fury, before, but that was only due to the fact that I'd locked myself out from the world most of my life; only because I didn't care, and I had not known of this man and his strange motives.

"I've been watching you, Carter, and your goings on these past few weeks." Fury explained, sounding angry. I felt scared that he was going to arrest her for attempted murder, or for just associating with a dangerous villain and a criminal, at that. I was scared at his expression; it was that of anger, something of disappointment. Like somehow he had expected more out of a tragedy-stricken girl, as had the rest of the world that had gotten to know me.

"And I'm interested," He continued. I crossed my arms and listened with curiosity. I had no idea where he was going with this, but I sure had a good feeling about it.

"In recruiting you." I smiled in wonder. He, Nick Fury, who gave a dangerous vibe at first, wanted to recruit me, of all people. And all because I was mad and chose to associate with the wrong person. My life may have sucked before, but it was sure looking up now. He must have noticed my positive attitude, because he led me into a nearby room; an indication that he wanted to show me my station or give a tour or something.

"This is where new recruits work until they get the hang of it. If you accept my offer, which is a once in a lifetime offer-and when I say this I mean if you say no and come back later, you will not be taken back-this is where I will start you." There were other agents who seemed to be highly focused and training to become a higher-rank agent in the large web that was S.H.I.E.L.D. I observed the different training exercises that they were enduring; they didn't exactly look entirely like fun. I was silent.

"You would not be here as long as most; you seem to have some, if not most of the skills that most agents train a year to acquire." Fury folded his arms as he observed the trainees. Chloe stood beside him observing the hard at work young adults. I thought of the honor I was being given. These people have probably been working hard half their lives to get to where they are right now, or at least right from the start of high school. And I'm standing here watching them, listening to Fury tell me that I'd train for half a year at the most to become a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. I felt extreme honor, yet sorrow for the people who worked harder than me.

Distracting me from watching the trainees, Fury called the agents who were guarding him away to leave them alone for a moment. I turned to him, more curious than I was scared.

"I'm offering you such an honor because of what world you have come from. It's been rough for you from what I've seen," He turned his back to me, folding his arms behind his back and stepping in a small circle.

"My childhood hasn't been all hugs and kisses either. My life and my father's life have encouraged me to change the world, one step at a time. And I can only hope the same onto you." Fury stared at me solemnly. I could tell this was a rare attitude for him, based on the way he had treated me at first, and based on his outlook and attitude. I had a feeling I'd realize this more as I spent more and more time here. I was silent for a moment, thinking. What he was telling me now is that my future is set in stone if I just say 'yes'. I can turn my life around, be a better person than who I was.

I could tell his mind was elsewhere by this point, because his eyes weren't concentrated as they were earlier. "I accept your terms." he turned and looked at me once my words seemed to sink into his mind. He didn't speak a word to me, but instead held out his hand in a friendly and business-like gesture.

~…~

Carmen stumbled into her apartment with tears flowing down her cheeks. She felt her whole life start to flush down the drain with a few simple words spoken to her as she returned to the police station not too long ago.

_I-I'm sorry, Miss Simmons…_the words echoed in her head. Each time she remembered each word her heart shattered a bit more.

_We couldn't find her._ Each word shattered her being, emitted a feeling of hopelessness. It would be a perfect time to start raining, Carmen thought. She threw her coat on the couch beside her and released her grip on her keys, letting them bounce off the coffee table and onto the floor carelessly. She wandered up the stairs, vision blurred with tears, and found her way to Chloe's bedroom. She fell onto the bed and buried her head into her palms, letting the rest of her tears fall freely.

As she cried more, she thought she heard a door open and close downstairs, followed by footsteps and someone vaguely familiar's voice; but it all seemed too unreal. She wept more as she heard quiet footsteps from the stairs, but ignored them thinking it was only her imagination. If she was still missing now, she was not coming back. Carmen heard the doorknob to Chloe's bedroom jiggle and faintly wanted to believe it was actually the perky blonde little girl she had once known.

"Carmen?" A quiet voice asked from the doorway. Carmen rose from the bed and turned to the doorway to see who it was talking to her. Carmen smiled, her world suddenly filling with the hope it had once been drained of. She ran to Chloe and thrust her arms around her, the tears falling now tears of joy.

"Chloe, I was so worried that you were gone for good, are you okay, what happened to you where were you?" Carmen let all the words filling her head escape her lips as she hugged and kissed Chloe's forehead more. Chloe chuckled lightly to Carmen's reaction before gently pushing her off.

"Look, Carmen, these past few days I made some wrong choices and went some wrong ways with my life, and I'm sorry. I should have listened to you; I should have listened to my friends…" Chloe looked to her feet to try and hide her disappointment; yet that only made it more evident. She felt remorse, regret and sorrow for the people she had let down and made believe could trust her.

"Chloe, this is going to sound messed up, but I understand." Chloe looked at Carmen like she was growing a second head.

"What?" Chloe asked, greatly confused. Carmen crossed her arms and sighed.

"You've had a rough path so far, Chloe, and I was wrong to tell you I understand. There's no way I could have understood what you've gone through with the ordinary life I lived when I was your age. And you were having a hard time, and when you were offered solace from the wrong person, you took it because you felt lost and scared in the wide world that we live in. It's okay." Carmen explained. Chloe was silent as she absorbed Carmen's words. They had hit spot on, and Chloe could tell that Carmen had been left with some time to think and reflect. She felt like Carmen was someone she could really go to when she needed someone to comfort her, like now she did understand a bit more than she had before. Chloe didn't know what to say.

"I'm working for S.H.I.E.L.D. now." Chloe said finally. Carmen thought about what Chloe had just said. It would be a mistake to ask if she's sure that's what she wants to do, so she refrained from it. She wanted to be careful picking her words this time, because as she recalled, last time she wasn't too careful and she lost someone important to her. Instead of speaking, Carmen brushed her hand through Chloe's long blonde hair.

"Your life is yours to decide now, Chloe. Just remember everything I've done for you, and everything your friends have done for you. Don't forget who you are." Chloe looked down to her feet as a single tear fell to the floor. Chloe, without a word more, hugged Carmen suddenly and left. Carmen thought deeply. She was satisfied with how Chloe had turned out after all she's been through, she actually turned out pretty ok. She remembered what Sara had told her when Chloe was born. _If anything were to happen to me or Danny, I'd trust you more than anyone to take care of her. _Carmen felt a sense of pride wash over her.

**Oookay, that was long. It took me a while to finish, like a couple hours I think. Maybe I can squeeze a couple more chapters out of this one, cool! And not to mention that sequel O.o review!**


	14. Epilouge

**OMGEEEEE, THIS IS SOOO SAD D: I think this is the LAST chapter! Awh, I was so loving it. I'm so sad to see it end D:**

"Well, you're all set to go. Just be more careful next time you're off inventing something." The doctor explained, patting Tony on the back. Tony smiled politely and walked out of the hospital with his friends. Obvious band-aid across his neck where the large gash was hiding. Tony wrapped his arm around Pepper's shoulders as they exited the hospital doors into the cool spring city air. Tony breathed in the scent of NYC as to get used to it once more. He looked around as they walked down the street and saw many familiar places that he remembered from his childhood; the building where his mother used to work, the supermarket where he used to get groceries with his family, and many more places. The city of his childhood, and he could bear to look. He was curious as to what Chloe was doing now.

"I think I'm going to get to work." Tony immediately threw himself into his usual routine of work as they arrived at the armory. Pepper sighed and responded to her father's text message.

"Well, I have to get home. See you later, Tony." Pepper said as she walked out of the armory.

"Yeah, I have to start my homework." Rhodey followed Pepper out. He knew that Tony just needed his space, and it would only take a matter of alone time for him to get back to normal. In other words, Tony was just being Tony. Now that everyone had left, leaving Tony to his work, it was quiet in the armory. It was just Tony and his work; which, of course, he was burying himself in. It was the comfort to his problems, and it was the way he forgot his teenage issues when the pressures of high school just got to his head.

"What's up, workaholic?" Tony looked up to see the blonde-haired girl leaning against a wall near the door. He put down his tools and walked closer to Chloe.

"What are you doing here?" Tony asked, trying to sound like he didn't have any emotion at all. Chloe removed herself from the wall and stood in front of Tony.

"So they let you out of the hus-cow, huh?" Chloe smirked, crossing her arms. Tony walked over to his computer, pretending to be busy.

"It's not that bad," Tony said, not knowing what else to say.

"Trust me. From what I've seen, it is." Chloe leaned against the wall closer to Tony, watching him work.

"So, what are you going to do now? I'm sure the police want you big time." Tony asked, not looking up from the screen. Chloe was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Oh, I don't think they'll be getting me," Tony looked up at Chloe, confused.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited me." Chloe explained. Tony folded his arms and stared at her.

"What about school?" He asked.

"Dropping out. Apparently I don't need it." Chloe smirked. It was something that she could be happy about, after all; no snooty kids to ignore anymore.

"Well…good for you." Tony offered. He honestly didn't have anything more to say to her other than what he wanted to say next. Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"Chloe, I…I know this sounds weird, but, you're the first person I've met that knows what it's like to lose a family. I don't want to never see you again." Chloe didn't want to be hearing what she was hearing. They were silent a moment.

"I don't want to get in the way of you and her. You're meant for her, Tony." Tony pretended to look confused, even though he knew what she was talking about, "...and you know who I'm talking about."

"I see it, in the way you look at her...in the way, you smile at her and she...she swoons," Chloe stopped; it hurt her to know she was starting to really like him but know that he was destined for someone who's not her. The room was silent. Chloe saw the expression of high confusion on Tony's face.

"Look, tony, I know where I belong and I know it's not here. I'm needed in other places; I don't want anyone to grow that close to me. I know what I want, and it's not to stay here with you. I'm sorry."

"But...but it's not like that, I don't like you that way. You can still stay, as a friend, we can all be friends!" Tony begged.  
"If it's spilling your secret you're worried about, then don't be. I can keep my mouth shut." Chloe said boredly as she started to walk out.

"Bye, Tony..." Chloe exited. Upon her quiet exit, Pepper entered.

"Are you okay? You look a little sad." pepper asked.  
"Naw, I'm okay. Chloe was just saying goodbye." Tony explained as he looked into Pepper's brown eyes and forgot his sorrows.  
"Goodbye? Where's she going?" Pepper was highly confused.

"Working for S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony explained. Pepper looked dumbfounded.

"No way, we could be coworkers someday!" Pepper exclaimed excitedly. Tony rolled his eyes in amusement as the room grew silent once more. Tony looked to his feet a moment then into Pepper's eyes, remembering what Chloe had told him earlier. _The way she…swoons._

"I love you." Pepper smiled.

"I love you too, Tony. Nothing will ever change that." Pepper gave him a hug. Tony pulled her off of him, keeping his hands on her shoulders. He stared at her a moment, then thrust his lips unto hers with passion. It was a long, forever moment in their world that was a mere minute in reality.

"I'll never let you go." Tony rested his arm around Pepper's waist.

~...~

Miles outside of the city, basically hours outside the city in a small, quiet town in the suburbs, rested a small prison. It wasn't small to the citizens of the town, all prisons were large to them; compared to the other prisons in the country, it was small. It held mostly lawbreakers that resided in the town; there were a few that there was no room for in prisons in other towns that got transferred here for the rest of their sentence. It was a prison of high security, contrary to its size. Guards patrolled every nook and cranny of the place at every hour of the day and night. It was heavily protected, and due to such guarding, rarely had riots or lash outs.

The prison was also equally organized. The prisoners were separated by what they were being convicted for; the system of cell mates was also organized by a careful observation of who acts least violent or dangerous around whom else, and making hypotheses from those careful observations, were mated accordingly. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners were run very calmly and organized. The prisoners were let out one row of cells at a time, one section at a time. Those who had to wait were to wait patiently. Those who were released were to form a line in the cafeteria in a calm and orderly fashion (they were surrounded heavily by guards, who were to make sure no violence ensued) and were to eat their meals in silence.

Their hour for recreation was at the same time each day. They were approached, asked if they'd like to go outside for an hour today or stay inside and participate in school work or career work-or whatever else they had to work on, such as arts and crafts or other activities-and were to calmly answer. Those were the sterile inmates. Those were the ones that learned to follow the rules they were given over hard time in prison. That wasn't the D ward. The D ward was where the dangerous inmates went. The ones that were convicted for murder, the ones who held a grudge and were too violent to be around other inmates; on some occasions, they couldn't be around anyone at all. The D ward was miles outside of town, where no one could hear the shouts of anger and the yelling of the violent inmates who could disturb anyone surrounding prison walls just with their voice; but that wasn't the fullest extent of their violence.

That's where he was.

At the end of a dark, damp and slightly moldy prison hallway in the D ward sat the prison cell of a mysterious man who spent his days sitting in the dark corner of the cell. No matter how many different times or ways he was approached, no matter what he was asked, he would just grunt and continue sharpening his knife on a piece of scrap metal that he'd stolen from the arts and crafts center back when he wasn't moved to the D ward. The screeching sound of the knife against the metal didn't seem to irritate him in any way, but anyone who passed by his cell would have a better time crossing the cell wearing headphones to drown out the sound. He seemed to enjoy it, so they left him to it. The prison guards figured it was better not to anger him and just let him be; as long as he wasn't hurting anyone.

His eyes were pointed down towards the ground, at his work, and because of that they appeared to be closed most of the time (even though everyone knew darn well that he never closed his eyes for more than the millisecond it took to blink). Because of this, when he did look up it was a surprise to everyone. It seemed to attract him that his dinner was being served to him for once in his sentence, because it hadn't caused him to look up at anyone before. For the first time since he'd been at the D ward, he set down his knife and piece of metal (that by now was starting to look widdled down like a piece of wood) and looked at the tray of food sitting on the prison cell's floor. Studying the meal of slop for only a moment, he picked up the tray and brought it back to his seat in the dark corner. He stuck his finger into the slop and slid the dirtied-slop finger over the wall in the shape of a letter. He stuck his finger back in the slop and repeated his movement several times. The guard watched his movements closely as he walked up and down the hallway, passing his co-worker every time he approached the middle of the hallway.

When the guard came back to the end of the hallway, he looked inside the strange man's cell to see him sitting in his corner with an interestingly sly smile below his bright, open eyes and saw behind his head to see a message written on the wall that read: **So Long, Suckers**. The prison guard stopped patrolling and waved his co-worker over in worry. Before the other guard could approach the curious guard's side to see what he was worried about, the prison guard in front of the man's jail cell was laying on the floor in a pile of blood slowly spilling from his chest, dead. The remaining prison guard ran to his co-worker's side to see that the jail cell was empty. Panicking, he called for help as he listened to the loud siren go off all over the courtyard.

**Permission to slap me for ending a story on a cliffhanger: granted. But I promise, that was the last chapter of this story. I know, I know, I'm sad to see it go too. I loved working on this story, it got so interesting at every turn and I actually made it last longer than my other stories usually last. So, review!**


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